What’s a home playoff game worth?

[Chrisinroch]

I guesstimated that it’s worth about $3MM to a team. That’s exclusive of TV revenue. What do you think?

$187 avg postseason face value *18000 seats
Concessions net profit
Merchandise net profit
Parking
Venue Ad revenue generated

Less:
35% of the gate to nhlpa (not sure if this is 35% of any postseason game or 35% of all teams regular gate revenue?)
Facility rental
Staff salaries

Click to read more...

 

[LadyStanley]

Gate is not calculated like that. NHLPA gets 50% of HRR, and it's not treated like an "off the top" expense.

You also have general event overhead (security screening devices, ticket readers, cleaning supplies, etc.) which do wear out/get used up and need to be replaced. Security and NHL (off ice) personnel.

Staff salaries is venue only, not hockey.

I've heard $4m+ for home game income, which can increase in the post season (as they don't have to deduct the player salaries, as well as increased ticket prices). But playoff games include % of ticket revenue into NHL central coffers.

 

[StreetHawk]

Gate is not calculated like that. NHLPA gets 50% of HRR, and it's not treated like an "off the top" expense.

You also have general event overhead (security screening devices, ticket readers, cleaning supplies, etc.) which do wear out/get used up and need to be replaced. Security and NHL (off ice) personnel.

Staff salaries is venue only, not hockey.

I've heard $4m+ for home game income, which can increase in the post season (as they don't have to deduct the player salaries, as well as increased ticket prices). But playoff games include % of ticket revenue into NHL central coffers.

In Vancouver we get Burke in the radio and he said that the money teams get via home games in the first round isn’t as much as people expect. After the first round the team gets to keep more of what they take in. Something to do with the revenue sharing agreement.

 

[Brent Burns Beard]

Playoff revenue is part of HRR isn’t it? Players get 50% of it, even if they don’t get a paycheque during the period. it was simply pre calculated into their regular season pay cycle as a function of the salary cap levels that were set.

an I wrong?

 

[LadyStanley]

Playoff revenue is part of HRR isn’t it? Players get 50% of it, even if they don’t get a paycheque during the period. it was simply pre calculated into their regular season pay cycle as a function of the salary cap levels that were set.

an I wrong?

They don't get a paycheck, but are eligible for bonus.

 

[Brent Burns Beard]

They don't get a paycheck, but are eligible for bonus.

It’s part of the total HRR calculation , no?

For easy math say the reg season Revenue is 3b and playoff rev is 1B, HRR is calculated at 50% of 4b.

that 2b is all salary, bonus, and the associated medical cost calculation.

That’s what i thought anyhow. So the players get 50% of the playoff revenue, even if it was buried in their regular season payroll.

 

[Chrisinroch]

So nhlpa revenue share is “collected” over the regular season but not playoffs?
(Playoff share/bonuses come from regular season revenue)

 

[Golden_Jet]

Playoff revenue is part of HRR isn’t it? Players get 50% of it, even if they don’t get a paycheque during the period. it was simply pre calculated into their regular season pay cycle as a function of the salary cap levels that were set.

an I wrong?

I think so, but not sure
35% of playoff gate goes for revenue sharing.

 

[Kalus]

About 5 years ago, I saw about $2M as the estimate by reliable sources. It wouldnt surprise me if it was $3M today.

It's probably why some teams make moves to add at the deadline even if they have.lottle chance to get out of the first round. That's at least an additional $6M in revenue, which is significant. Also, they arent paying the players much in playoff bonuses, so you are getting a big profit boost on those $3M gates.

 

[Jumptheshark]

I guesstimated that it’s worth about $3MM to a team. That’s exclusive of TV revenue. What do you think?

$187 avg postseason face value *18000 seats
Concessions net profit
Merchandise net profit
Parking
Venue Ad revenue generated

Less:
35% of the gate to nhlpa (not sure if this is 35% of any postseason game or 35% of all teams regular gate revenue?)
Facility rental
Staff salaries

in the 80's, Glen Sather suggested that each home game the Oilers made about 2 mill--that was in the 80's

 

[Anttiup32]

Back in 2017 saw something crazy that the Rangers didn’t make money from round 1 in the playoffs unless it went 7 games. Not sure if it was a long running joke since they almost always went the distance or if there’s truth to it.

 

[Fenway]

2 years ago the Toronto Globe and Mail reported each first-round Leafs game was a $6 million gate.

As far as I can ascertain only MLB sets the prices and prints tickets for all post-season games and actually rents the stadium from the hosting team.

The NFL has total control of the Super Bowl but the NHL and NBA seem to let the host team set the prices.

I remember 9 years ago Bruins fans were shocked at how high face value prices were in Vancouver for the SCF and Vancouver fans were equally shocked at how low the prices were in Boston. The Bruins took notes - last year for Game 7 if you were standing in line at the box office hoping something became available for Game 7 of the SCF you suffered severe sticker shot. Charlie Jacobs told people at the front of the line tickets would open up but expect to pay $600. When the box office finally opened they told the fans $2100 for a seat.

 

[Tawnos]

It’s part of the total HRR calculation , no?

For easy math say the reg season Revenue is 3b and playoff rev is 1B, HRR is calculated at 50% of 4b.

that 2b is all salary, bonus, and the associated medical cost calculation.

That’s what i thought anyhow. So the players get 50% of the playoff revenue, even if it was buried in their regular season payroll.

This is accurate. Final season pay for the players has to be 50% of total season revenue, including playoffs. If the players were paid less than that, they’ll get some more from the owners. If they were paid more, they’ll lose some in escrow.

IIRC the final numbers for that don’t become official until a couple of months into the next season.

 

[ziggyjoe212]

I think i read somewhere that the Pens make $5 million per playoff game. I dont have a source.

 

[LeHab]

I think i read somewhere that the Pens make $5 million per playoff game. I dont have a source.

Would highly depend on the round. Pricing for Pitts last season is here: Stanley Cup Playoff Tickets

Between round 1 and 4 price/ticket increases by around 2.5x. Concessions, parking, shop probably remain the same.

 

[ziggyjoe212]

Would highly depend on the round. Pricing for Pitts last season is here: Stanley Cup Playoff Tickets

Between round 1 and 4 price/ticket increases by around 2.5x. Concessions, parking, shop probably remain the same.

In the 4 major American sports leagues, the majority of every team's revenue comes from TV money.

But yes, playoff tickets bring significantly more income than regular season tickets.

 

[powerstuck]

What I could find from old reports is that Habs were generating 2,9M revenue, 2M profits per playoff game during the 2009-10 season.

Now, 10 years later that number must have grown a bit.

 

[Name Nameless]

Playoff revenue is part of HRR isn’t it? Players get 50% of it, even if they don’t get a paycheque during the period. it was simply pre calculated into their regular season pay cycle as a function of the salary cap levels that were set.

an I wrong?

Yeah, you are as wrong as anyone can possibly be, as the income from a possible play-off game is already in their regular season salary, so the income will be a marginal income for the team... to say the players gets 50% from it is just fantastic wrong then... entirely wrong thinking, sorry...

Someone said "but they can get a bonus". Do they?

 

[TheWhiskeyThief]

Yeah, you are as wrong as anyone can possibly be, as the income from a possible play-off game is already in their regular season salary, so the income will be a marginal income for the team... to say the players gets 50% from it is just fantastic wrong then... entirely wrong thinking, sorry...

Someone said "but they can get a bonus". Do they?

Yeah...no

It’s all HRR, so gets split 50-50; but not directed to the teams going deep. This is why as you go deeper, the league gets a higher cut of the revenue while the team is getting revenues to handle game night ops and not much more. It goes to all teams, not just playoff squads.

 

[mouser]

Yeah, you are as wrong as anyone can possibly be, as the income from a possible play-off game is already in their regular season salary, so the income will be a marginal income for the team... to say the players gets 50% from it is just fantastic wrong then... entirely wrong thinking, sorry...

Someone said "but they can get a bonus". Do they?

It’s actually quite reasonable to say the players get 50% of the revenue from every playoff game.

Just have to explain that the 50% is spread across every single player in the NHL, regardless of whether their team made the playoffs or how far they advanced. Because as you note the league-wide playoff revenue is already priced into every players regular season compensation.