Golden returns
the $500 million paid by the Vegas Golden Knights to join the nhl is a good baseline value for hockey franchises— and illustrates the league’s substantial financial success. the inflation-adjusted price of admission to the nhl has increased at a 7.4% compound annual rate since 1967 when compared with the Knights’ fee. the next round of expansion (1970) has returned 5.8%, and the most recent expansions (1992, 1997) have done the best: 7.7%.
Put another way, hockey owners have averaged a 7% annual return since the nhl’s first major expansion. the s&P 500, by contrast, has posted an annual price appreciation of just 2.5% in that time, net of inflation—and even if you include dividends, that’s still just a 5.6% return.