Franchise Sale Prices: Hockey

The following are sale prices of professional hockey teams (NHL excluded), either published in the media or provided by sources with direct knowledge of the transactions.  If you would like to know our source for a particular transaction, contact us and we’ll be happy to share, unless the information was provided on background by an industry source.

As with all business numbers in sports, understand that these figures are occasionally misrepresented by owners or obscured by faulty memories.  Prices may represent the price of a controlling interest in a team, but not 100% of the shares.  In a few cases, we have used the less than (<), greater than (>) and estimated (~) symbols to indicate partial information gleaned about a sale.

World Hockey Association 1972-1979

Sale of existing franchises:

  • 1973 – Ottawa Nationals – $1.8 million (Nick Trbovich to John Bassett)
  • 1973 – Philadelphia Blazers – $1.9 million (James Cooper & Bernard Brown to Jim Pattison)

American Hockey League

Sale of existing franchises:

  • 1991 – New Haven (CT) Nighthawks – < $1.0 million (Los Angeles Kings to Peter Shipman)
  • 2004 – Hampton Roads (VA) Admirals – $2.8 million (Mark Garcea & Page Johnson to Ken Young)
  • 2004 – Worcester (MA) IceCats – $2.05  million (St. Louis Blues to Bruce Saurs & Anne Griffith)
  • 2008 – Rochester Americans – $6.5 million (Steve Donner et al. to Curt Styres)
  • 2009 – Philadelphia Phantoms – > $3.0 million (Comcast-Spectacor to The Brooks Group)
  • 2011 – Rochester Americans – $5.0 million (Curt Styres to Terry Pegula)

East Coast Hockey League (1988-Present)

Expansion fees:

  • 1989 – Hampton Roads (VA) Admirals – $25,000 (Blake Cullen)
  • 1989 – Nashville Knights – $25,000 (Ron Fuller & Bob Polk)
  • 1995 – Louisville RiverFrogs – $1.0 million (Gary Ulmer, Ed Glasscock, et al.)

Sale of existing franchises:

  • 1992 – Roanoke Valley (VA) Rebels – $250,000 (Henry Brabham to Larry Revo)
  • 1996 – Hampton Roads (VA) Admirals – $2.8 million (Blake Cullen to Mark Garcea & Page Johnson)
  • 2001 – Roanoke (VA) Express – ~ $650,000 (Hockey Roanoke to Chris Pollock, Mike Lonchar et al.)
  • 2002 – Johnstown (PA) Chiefs – $1 (Richard Mayer to Neil Smith)
  • 2006 – Charlotte Checkers – $2.0 million (Carl Scheer & Felix Sabates to Michael Kahn)
  • 2011 – Reading (PA) Royals – $500,000 for 50% interest. (AEG to Berks Co. Convention Ctr. Authority)

 

International Hockey League (1945-2001)

Expansion fees:

  • 1947 – Toledo Mercurys – $1,000 (Virgil Gladieux)
  • 1952 – Fort Wayne (IN) Komets – $2,500 (?)
  • 1989 – Phoenix Roadrunners – $200,000 (Lyle Abraham)
  • 1993 – Las Vegas Thunder – $2.0 million (Hank Stickney & Ken Stickney)
  • 1994 – Orlando Solar Bears – $6.0 million (Rich DeVos)
  • 1994 – San Francisco Spiders – $6.0 million (Dave Pasant)

Sale of existing franchises:

  • 1984 –  Muskegon Mohawks – $1 (? to Larry Gordon)
  • 1994 – Salt Lake Golden Eagles – $5.0 million (Larry Miller to William Davidson)
  • 2000 – Cleveland Lumberjacks – $1.8 million (Larry Gordon to Hank Kassigkeit)

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