According to Forbes, the franchise value of the Chicago Blackhawks increased by 26% over the past season, to $258 Million, ranking them 7th in the NHL behind the other original six franchises and Philadelphia Flyers.
Considering that Forbes had ranked Chicago 16th just two years ago (valued then at $179 Million) when Rocky Wirtz assumed control of the team on the passing of his late father, the turnaround has been quite quick & impressive. In terms of operating income, the Hawks $20.9M last year ranked them 5th according to Forbes and represents an even more impressive turnaround from a net loss of $3.6M just two years ago, thanks largely to revenue increasing over 50% from the 2007 base of $69M, all despite an overall downturn in the economy.
With an average ticket price of $46, and residing in the largest metropolitan market with only 1 NHL franchise (New York's 19,007,000 market population is split among 3 teams, while LA's 12,873,00 split between the Kings & the Ducks), the Blackhawks with a local metro area population of 9,570,000 to draw from (not to mention the latent value of their original six national brand), the hawks still have a lot of room to grow their revenue base. (To provide a competitive perspective, the hawks metro area population rivals that of division foes Detroit, St. Louis, Nasvhille & Columbus on a combined basis!).
The hawks held the line on ticket price increases this season after a hefty increase prior to last season, and still have the 10th lowest average ticket price in the entire league - exactly half of Toronto's $92 average which is the highest - and lower than teams in hockey hotbeds such as Nashville, Columbus & Florida. They also have the fourth largest arena capacity (behind Montreal, Detroit & Tampa), which helped the hawks rank 12th overall in gate receipts, despite the low average ticket price.
In terms of Local Revenue per Fan (defined by Forbes as Stadium and local media revenue generated per person in the metro area), the hawks amazingly rank 3rd lowest in the entire NHL with $11 - ahead of only the Islanders & Atlanta and tied with such hockey hotbeds of Florida & Phoenix. If the hawks were to double their Local Revenue per Fan number, they would still be below the league average, yet their operating revenues would rank them well ahead of Toronto's league leading toal of $168M. Matching Detroit's $29/fan (still well below some small market Canadian team numbers of $60 & up) would almost triple their operating revenues and conceivably measurably impact overall league revenues.
Instituting an annual Blackhawk fan convention in the summer in 2008 (an idea which McDonough brought over with him from the Cubs), as well as putting home games on TV (including several available on free over-the-air TV WGN - Channel 9) as well as improving their radio profile by moving to powerhouse station WGN 720 has certainly helped their local visibility, as has the increasing success on the ice, to drive revenues higher, yet the hawks obviously still have a lot more room to grow. It is hard to believe that the hawks actually had to buy air time from WSCR to broadcast their games a few short years ago.
Perhaps that is John McDonough's secret weapon to maintain or increase hockey related revenues and the accompanying salary cap so that the hawks can better afford those high priced UFA signings & still keep their young core of RFAs Keith, Kane & Toews together.
On the other hand, talk of locating a second NHL team in Toronto (whether from expansion or relocation) may be a bit misplaced based on a review of Forbes' numbers - it would appear the much larger Chicago metro area market might be more ripe for exploiting an underserved hockey market than Toronto.
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