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Where Do The New Jersey Devils Fit Into Forbes’ NHL Team Evaluations?

There was a time in my life I realized that I would never be a professional athlete. As a result, I turned my interests towards other money endeavors, such as business. However, I am still holding onto that dream of being a reality television star. If any casting executives are New Jersey Devils’ fans, and are reading this article hit me up. I’ll have my people call your people.

From the business side of things, I’ve always found the financials of the NHL and their teams interesting. That’s why I pay more than a passing glance at the Forbes NHL team evaluations. Here’s what that all means, and where the New Jersey devils fit into it.

Non-Devils’ Related Takeaways

Newsflash, the league lost money last year. Only seven teams didn’t see their team value drop. No team saw their value increase, even the Tampa Bay Lightning. Fifteen of the league’s teams lost money and operating revenue.

Forbes also listed two interesting statistics. First, is that teams usually make around $20-million during a successful Stanley Cup run from home stadium revenue. Secondly, 70% of a team’s revenue comes from in-arena revenue streams such as tickets, sponsorships, and concessions.

Players also received slightly more than the 50/50 split as negotiated in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Revenue sharing payments were also lower than normal. There’s some confusing financial explanations behind this, so it’s probably better we don’t go into depth explaining it.

Where Do the New Jersey Devils Fit In?

The New Jersey Devils show up right in the middle of this list at number 15. Their value decreased 4% to $530-million. The Devils also had an operating income of $4.1 million.

How were the Devils able to make money? In a season where Forbes estimates only 85% of the regular season was played under normal economic conditions, the Devils have a very important tool to help them. That tool of course is the Prudential Center itself.

The Devils are the main operators of the Prudential Center, so the team earns revenue on non-Devils’ related uses as well. So, technically, the team made money off that 85% of games, plus concerts and other uses. Of course, this is all determined without an in-depth look at Harris Blitzer’s financials. There might be other factors at play.

The Devils are in between the other two Metropolitan area teams. The New York Rangers were number one, worth $1.65 billion with no change in value. The New York Islanders came in at number 16, right behind the Devils. The team of fish sticks and Dennis Potvin is worth $250 million, yet they lost $37.9 million. When the team finally gets its own arena their finances will improve.

What About Part Ownership?

One interesting takeaway from the Forbes article was a suggestion on how some teams might earn extra revenue. According to Montreal Investment Banker Drew Dorweiller, some teams may start selling minority ownership to get extra revenue. No specific teams where speculated to do so.

Would Harris and Blitzer ever sell minority ownership? An immediate guess is probably not. Harris and Blitzer have been very involved in adding new sports properties to their company HBSE.

Remember last year they bought a small part of the Pittsburgh Steelers and considered buying the New York Mets. Selling part of the Devils seems like the opposite of what they’ve been doing.

The post Where Do The New Jersey Devils Fit Into Forbes’ NHL Team Evaluations? appeared first on Devils Army Blog.

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The 2020 New Jersey Devils’ Fan Christmas Wishlist: The Stocking Stuffers

Last week I shared my wish list for us New Jersey Devils’ fans this holiday season. Well you know what, us Devils’ fans have been really good this year, so maybe we deserve a few more presents. These are not as big as the last ones, so let’s call them our stocking stuffers.

Same rules apply as the last list. They have to be things that are realistic and something under control by the team. As much as I’d love to have a black primary retro jersey in my stocking, unfortunately, that is not so realistic. Here are three things that can put us fans in the holiday spirit.

Jesper Bratt As An Every Day Player

Jesper Bratt should be an everyday player. He plays like he should be an everyday player. Unfortunately, there were times last year when Bratt was left out of the lineup. After being called out, Bratt broke out offensively to end the season. He has done everything and more to contribute to this team.

Let’s hope the new coaching regime under Lindy Ruff recognizes the value of Bratt and makes him a permanent piece in the lineup. An extension for Bratt would be nice as well, but one thing at a time here.

Corey Crawford Excels At Back Up

Believe it or not, out of the three main goaltenders the Chicago Blackhawks went with in their regular season — Robin Lehner, Corey Crawford, and Collin Dellia — Crawford had the best goals against average. Crawford had a 2.77 goals against average compared to Robin Lehner’s 3.01. He also started more games than Lehner in what was supposed to be a goalie tandem between the two.

Nobody needs, or is even expecting Crawford to be the cup-winning goaltender of his past. For the first time since he broke out in 2010-2011 season, Crawford is becoming a true back up. Back up goaltending is what truly hurt the New Jersey Devils last year and hopefully Crawford is an improvement. If he gives the team a chance to win every time Mackenzie Blackwood is not in net, that’s all we need.

Bounce Back for P.K. Subban

We all wanted a bounce back year for P.K. Subban. Unfortunately, Subban ended up having an even worse first year in New Jersey. Okay, let’s cut P.K. some slack hear, not a lot of slack, but some.

Last season was turmoil for New Jersey. Not only was there a coaching change, but a general manager change as well. In addition two of the team’s best defenseman, Andy Greene and Sami Vatanen were traded away. Let’s not forget that former head coach John Hynes also liked to change his defensive pairings mid-game for some odd reason.

This should be a calmer year in New Jersey. Maybe not an overly successful year, but a calm one. Remember, new head coach Lindy Ruff was brought in for his merits of handling defense. If Lindy Ruff brings anything, hopefully it’s stability. Let’s hope that newfound stability helps P.K. Subban find his game once again.

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