from Mike Ozanian of Forbes,

Combine lots of playoff hockey and a cash-rich arena with the National Hockey League’s biggest market and you get the sport’s most valuable franchise.

For the first time since 2004 the New York Rangers are the most valuable team TISI +% in the NHL, worth $1.2 billion. The Rangers generated the most revenue ($229 million) in the league during the 2014-15 season, cashing in on the $1 billion renovation of Madison Square Garden and drives to the Stanley Cup finals in 2014 and Eastern Conference Finals in 2015. The Rangers took in more than $95 million from premium seating and advertising at MSG last season, tops in the NHL.

Moving up from third in 2014 to second are the Montreal Canadiens, worth $1.18 billion, 18% more than last year. Of the seven Canadian teams, Les Habitants were the only one to increase in value over the past year. Last season, the Canadiens began a long-term local television deal with Réseau des sports that will pay the team an average of C$68 million a season, more than double their previous agreement.

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added 10:42am, from Christina Settimi of Forbes,

Good news for the NHL: the average team is worth an all-time high $505 million.

Bad news for the NHL: the average NFL team is worth $2 billion, the average MLB team worth $1.2 billion, and the average NBA team $1.1 billion.

The reason for the discrepancy? Hockey fans are tribal and, as our annual NHL Team Values consistently highlight, the tribe holds the power.

More specifically, during 2014-15 over 80% of the NHL’s revenue was generated locally – in the arena from tickets sales and concessions, from local sponsors and from local broadcasters. So when the local fan base is highly engaged the team immediately reaps the benefits. In comparison the NBA, NFL and MLB have large national media and sponsorship deals which help protect their team values.

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