Raptors worth over $1B more than Leafs, Blue Jays: report
While Canada might have a reputation as a hockey-first country, the NBA’s Toronto Raptors remain the nation’s most valuable team.
According to a recent valuation by sports business publication Sportico, the Raptors ā at $3.34 billion ā are the NBA’s eighth most valuable franchise, coming in at 45th overall across the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS.
The Raptors find themselves behind all 32 NFL teams, but ahead of every NHL and MLS franchise and all but five MLB teams.
Here's @Sportico's ranking of *all* 152 teams in the big five North American leagues:
– All 32 @NFL teams are in the top 40
– The @NBA teams in the Top 10
– Only two @NHL teams in the top 75
– @LAFC above 17 NHL teams
– Only five @MLS teams below Coyotes pic.twitter.com/h6tXdFO2r4— Eben Novy-Williams (@novy_williams) August 8, 2023
Despite “Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment” being the parent company that owns teams in three of the five major leagues as well as in the AHL and CFL, the 2019 NBA champions are both the highest valued entity within both their own city as well as across Canada.
Here’s a full ranking of the Canadian teams on the list, with their monetary values in brackets:
- Toronto Raptors, $3.34 billion
- Toronto Maple Leafs, $2.12 billion
- Toronto Blue Jays, $1.97 billion
- Montreal Canadiens, $1.7 billion
- Edmonton Oilers, $1.29 billion
- Vancouver Canucks, $1 billion
- Calgary Flames, $870 million
- Winnipeg Jets, $805 million
- Toronto FC, $705 million
- Ottawa Senators, $655 million
- Vancouver Whitecaps, $415 million
- CF Montreal, $390 million
Toronto takes the top three spots, with the Leafs and Blue Jays coming in at $2.12 billion and $1.97 billion, respectively.
Interestingly, Toronto FC, despite a 3-10-11 record that has them 14th in the Eastern Conference, is still a more valuable property than the Ottawa Senators, the lone NHL team to see the bottom three of the Canadian team rankings.
The Senators were the most recent Canadian team sold, changing hands earlier this year to primary shareholder Michael Andlauer, after a lengthy process following Eugene Melynk’s death in 2022.