Trouble Ahead? Bookies Projects Golden Knights LAST in NHL Wealth

For all the splashy times the Vegas Golden Knights have had in their brief history, the franchise might not be so “golden” in the coming seasons, according to an analysis by Bookies.com.

The betting website provided its list of estimates to Vegas Hockey Now and put out its NHL Rich List, aiming to rank each franchise by how wealthy they might be by 2025. The Golden Knights came in last, projected to earn $89 million then.

Bookies.com noted that the $89 million is still “a healthy” figure, but it pales next to most other 30 teams. (Bookies.com did not include the expansion Seattle Kraken, who join the league for 2021-22.)

The site noted that the Golden Knights made $141 in 2021, but it is projecting that the club will lose money in each of the next few years and thus decrease in value. The estimates project the club to have revenues of $128 million in 2022, $115 million in 2023, and $102 million in 2024 before dropping to the $89 million mark.

There is a fairly big gap between the Vegas Golden Knights and the second-to-last team on the site’s Rich List. Projections show the Arizona Coyotes to make $128.71 million by 2025 despite chronic issues with ownership and drawing crowds.

At the top of the list is Montreal. The Canadiens are projected to be the NHL’s richest team by 2025, potentially bringing in $327 million or more per year. The New York Rangers are a close second at $325.09 million.

For the rankings, Bookies.com analyzed data from 2012 to 2019 and used that to predict teams’ financial future. The expansion Golden Knights joined the NHL in 2017-18, so financial data was limited compared with other teams.

The combined annual revenue of all 31 NHL teams in 2025 is predicted to be over $6 billion. Perhaps the salary cap will increase by then. 

If it makes the Golden Knights or their passionate fans feel any better, the Las Vegas Raiders are at the bottom of the similar rankings on the Bookies.com NFL Rich List.