From the article:
Read more:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/industri...sed-to-make-northern-migration/#ixzz1OtJVS2sG
And that's the problem; the huge gap.
Sure league revenues are up, but that's largely due to the traditional markets where ticket prices are higher than ever as are TV ratings. The non-traditional markets are, for the most part, dragging the league down considerably.
And this is why I think the title of this thread is rather misleading.
It should read more like this: "Seven Franchises Continue to Prop Up NHL"
The business model is not good; the league is pretty much using the profit from the Leafs, Habs, Canucks, Bruins, Flyers, and Rangers to subsidize the losses of a much greater number of teams.
Now of course there are always going to be teams that struggle financially in a big league, but to have the net income of $0 or less for a sum of any 15 teams in the league is very poor.
Basically, if it weren't for the Leafs and Habs in particular with such a strong Canadian dollar, then the league would need drastic changes (cutting half a dozen teams?) because the few remaining teams that actually make money would not even be close to covering the losses of 10+ franchises.
I think one could make the argument right now that the strong Canadian dollar has probably saved a number of franchises in the United States.