How Much Will the Maple Leafs Be Worth in 2024 After the Potential Closure of a Lightning Sale That Would Value the NHL Team at $2 Billion?
The price of the Leafs’ parent company, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, may increase significantly if it was valued at $8 billion (U.S.) earlier in the year.
It should be noted that no sale has completed as of yet. However, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet stated last week, citing a number of sources, that Jeff Vinik, the owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning, was hoping to increase the present ownership by selling off a piece of the team, which would put the Florida franchise’s worth at $2 billion.
For comparison, that is more than twice as much as the $950 million the Ottawa Senators received when they were sold to Michael Andlauer in September 2023 in order to buy the Canadian franchise, and the $1 billion Arizona Coyotes received earlier this year when they were sold to Ryan Smith of Utah (with an additional $200 million as a relocation fee).
The $2 billion figure also represents a 1.6X premium above Sportico, a sports business website,’s most recent $1.25 billion assessment of the Lightning. We’ll talk about that crucial multiplier shortly.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are just one of several sports organizations that fall under the ownership of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), which also owns numerous subsidiaries such as Scotiabank Arena, the Toronto Raptors (NBA), Toronto FC (MLS), and Toronto Argonauts (CFL). With the recent sale of 20% of his MLSE holdings to OMERS for $400 million, Larry Tanenbaum, MLSE’s 25% owner, handed the pension fund an indirect $8 billion (U.S.) investment in the company. Should the Lightning deal close, the Maple Leafs’ current valuation might change as a result. If it uses Tampa’s multiplier, that might come to $4.24 billion.
That number could also significantly bump the MLSE valuation to north of $10 billion (USD) by the end of the year.
Sportsnet reported that it’s believed that telecom companies Bell and Rogers, which each own a 37.5 percent stake in MLSE, have a clause they could enact by 2026 to buy out Tanenbaum’s remaining stake. By that point, the price could balloon higher if not enacted sooner.
Of course, the sale in Tampa hasn’t closed just yet. But once it does, the valuations across the NHL will be set to skyrocket and no doubt the Leafs will grow in lockstep with it.
