CNBC sports reporter Michael Ozanian breaks down how the Philadelphia Flyers became one of the most valuable NHL franchises.
In CNBC's list of NHL valuations for 2024, the Flyers are ranked No. 8 out of 32 teams with a value of $2.25 billion.
Among teams in the United States, the Flyers are slotted at No. 5.
The Maple Leafs are the league's most valuable team at $3.8 billion. You can see the full list here.
After completing a $400 million, multi-year transformation project, the Wells Fargo Center was recognized as a top-10 venue in 2024 by Front Office Sports during May.
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"I think that the Flyers are going to be in a good position because one thing they've done is they've poured hundreds of million dollars the last few years into renovating the Wells Fargo Center," Michael Ozanian, CNBC's senior sports reporter, said. "So it's a modern building, it has got great amenities and it generates in the top 10 in revenue in the NHL."
In 2023, Dan Hilferty took over as chairman and CEO of Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Flyers. That summer, the Flyers named Keith Jones as their new president of hockey operations and Danny Briere the full-time general manager.
This June, Hilferty said he was "thrilled" with the Flyers' direction.
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"Another thing they have going for them is that the naming rights to Wells Fargo expire after this season," Ozanian said. "And it's a very, very low naming rights deal. It's under $2 million a year that the Flyers currently get because it's a very old deal. It was explained to me that it was typed out on a typewriter, that's how old the deal is.
"And if you look at comparable naming rights deals in the NHL for teams in the market comparable to Philadelphia, you'd have to think that they're going to get at least three times as much as they've been getting, if not more."
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