from Ian Thomas of SportsBusiness Journal at Buffalo Business First,

For the last few years, the National Hockey League has built what Commissioner Gary Bettman says is a solid foundation. From a 10-year collective-bargaining agreement signed with the players union in 2013 (the league’s longest to date), to the broadcast contracts with NBC and Rogers (in Canada), to rule changes to improve the quality of the game, the league has put all of those pieces into place.

Now it’s paying off. Not only is the league poised to top $4 billion in revenue in the season ahead, it is forecasting to top $4.5 billion by the 2017-18 season.

“We’re now able to put building blocks on top of that foundation,” Bettman said. “And the good news is, those building blocks are ever ascending in height, and are strong and stable — perhaps the strongest they’ve ever been.”

The league is benefiting from a sharp rise in national revenue, which includes leaguewide sponsorships, media rights deals and licensing. In 2005-06, national revenue accounted for about 7 percent of total league revenue, but now makes up nearly 20 percent of that figure. In addition, national revenue has grown about 20 percent a year, while the local team revenue that makes up the rest of the league’s total revenue figure has grown about 4 percent a year.

continued