In short, we look at cash in versus cash out from those events that accrue to the team’s owner, which can cause our numbers to be different from what the teams report. For example, the Blackhawks claim to be losing money despite having won two of the last four Stanley Cups and playing in the third-biggest U.S. market. Team owner Rocky Wirtz might be able to truthfully make that claim because he parks certain arena revenue, like suites rentals, at a separate joint venture that owns the United Center. But since Wirtz owns 50% of the JV we give a proportional share of the JV’s revenue and expenses to the Blackhawks.

Owner: Rocky Wirtz
Championships: 5
Price Paid: $1 M
Year Purchased: 1954
Revenue : $115 M
Operating Income : $25.6 M
Debt/Value : 0%
Player Expenses : $43 M
Gate Receipts : $51 M
Wins-to-player cost ratio : 208
Revenue per Fan : $11
Metro Area Population: 9.6 M

In 2013, the Blackhawks captured their second Stanley Cup in four years by beating the Boston Bruins in six games. The Blackhawks are among the most profitable teams in the NHL. The team has the eighth-highest non-premium average ticket price ($63) and Comcast SportsNet Chicago— the RSN is 20% owned by the Blackhawks—drew the third-highest average ratings (5.5) in the league last season. The Blackhawks own 50% of United Center JV, where it parks the luxury suite revenue earned from team games.

That contract can be a very big deal.

jeez, $115M ain't a hell of a lot of revenue.

jeez, $115M ain't a hell of a lot of revenue.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/globe-on-hockey/mirtle-how-the-nhls-salary-cap-will-jump-10-million-in-two-years/article15627506/

They're now forecasting a salary cap of $68MM for next year and over $75MM for 2016. The commensurate rise in the salary floor is going to seriously endanger some teams.

Canadian media now reporting a $71.1MM cap for next season.

Yeah, "lol Canadian funds" stopped working when we blowed up our economy five years ago.

Kids 2-17 made up between 11% and 14% of the audience for each NBA Finals game, ahead of the other events examined. The demo made up just 5-6% of the audience for each World Series game, lagging behind the Final Four (7-8%), the BCS (8-10%), and the Stanley Cup Final (9-11%).
. . .
The Stanley Cup Final led the way in viewer affluence ($73K-$84K), with the two games on NBCSN topping $80,000.

The Stanley Cup Final, which was the youngest skewing event outside of the NBA Finals, would seem to have the mix of youth and affluence that advertisers crave — if only it could get larger numbers overall. It is telling, for example, that while adults 18-34 made up a larger proportion of the audience for the Stanley Cup Final, the old-skewing World Series still attracted more viewers in the demo.

It should be no surprise that men watch sports in greater numbers than do women. However, when examining some of the highest-profile sporting events of 2013, women consistently made up more than a third of the audience.

Female viewers made up between 37% and 40% of the audience for the NBA Finals, with 10.6 million tuning into Game 7 — 40% of the total audience (26.3M). For the World Series, female viewers were 39-41% of the audience, topped by 7.9 million for Game 6 — 41% of the total (19.2M). Women made up similar proportions of the audience for the Stanley Cup Final (between 36 and 42%), NCAA Tournament Final Four (38-39%), Bowl Championship Series (33-36%), and WNBA Finals (34-40%).

Of the events analyzed, tennis’ U.S. Open singles finals had the largest percentage of female viewers. Women made up 48% of the audience for the women’s final and 49% of the audience for the men’s final. Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final ranked third (42%), followed by Game 6 of the World Series (41%).

The Stanley Cup Final was an especially weak performer among minority viewers. African Americans made up between 1% and 5% of the audience for each game, Hispanics made up between 2% and 6%, and Asian viewers made up between 3% and 4%. Overall, the demographics made up just 6-13% of the audience for each game, making the Stanley Cup Final easily the least diverse sporting event examined.

The NHL may not have the numbers of the other leagues, but it skewed younger than every event but the NBA and had the most affluent audience of the events examined. Advertisers thirst for young audiences with disposable income, and the NHL would be in great shape if it could attract more viewers. One problem — 2013 was an unusually good year for the league, and the numbers may drop back to Earth this season. Another problem — the Stanley Cup Final had the least diversity of any event examined.