THE BUSINESS OF HOCKEY
BEAVER SQUEEZERS
Team Value
$1.90 B
Team value, as calculated by
in December 2023
At a Glance
Owner:
Championships:
Price Paid:
Year Purchased:
Revenue:
Operating Income:
Banners:
Jersey Retirements:
Player Trophies:
GM of the Year Awards:
Attendance to Capacity:
2
$997 M
2019
$272.70 M
$106.53 M
7
2
6
0
106.04%
2021
Write up to come
2020
The pandemic mercifully put an end to one of the the more historically poor seasons in NHFL history, as the Squeezers finished dead last in the 2019-2020 NHFL standings and were trending towards their first ever JOCKO title. A trade of Connor McDavid superceded sharply dropping attendance levels. Luckily enough, the struggles in 2020 have set the franchise up for success in 2021, so perhaps we are discussing a second Fifty Mission Cup in three seasons for this franchise comes this time in 2021.
The Mussen family, who owns the Squeezers through Sudbury Sports & Entertainment, completed a four-way e-sports merger between J55 Capital, Enthusiast Gaming Holdings, Luminosity Gaming and Mussen GameCo that created a publicly traded e-sports and gaming organization, Enthusiast Gaming Holdings. The company includes 100 gaming-related websites, 1,000 YouTube channels and seven professional esports teams. The platform reaches over 300 million visitors monthly. Enthusiast trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange and was valued at $150 million as of November and helped to maintain the status quo for the Squeezers franchise valuation in 2020.
2019
2019 was an unusual year for the Beaver Squeezers franchise: the combination of unrest and success of the front office at the end of 2018-2019 season led to an oddly bittersweet Fifty Mission Cup championship - which was both the first for the franchise, and the last for the previous ownership group. It was announced ahead of the semi-final matchup that current team management (of the then Cambridge Tchuggs) would be selling their stake in the franchise and would not be returning to the league for the upcoming season. A number of prospective buyers came forward, and the financial offer and proposal package submitted by the Beaver Squeezers ownership group was selected as the successful bid for the franchise.
Even with the franchise relocation (and possibly also enjoying the boost of opening the doors to a brand new venue), the Beaver Squeezers ownership group has been riding the wave of box office success that generally comes with being the defending champion: a 13-week maximum capacity streak at the Beaver Dam, and a 22-week sell-out streak in total across two different venues. The success of the rising gate receipts pushed the Beaver Squeezers franchise into the top-half of the league in total revenue generated. The more than 21% growth in total revenue experienced by the Squeezers in 2019 paced the entire NHFL.
There is still room to grow, as overall the franchise still finds themselves in the bottom half of the league in total value. While the previous ownership left the franchise in a strong, and improving, financial position, the opportunity for immediate returns in their on-ice product were less than ideal. The new team management will look to spend the first half of 2020 working to position themselves for a return to competitiveness in the coming season, in order to continue the recent revenue trends that the franchise has enjoyed.
2018
The modest gains made in their franchise valuation by the Cambridge Tchuggs (a 3.30% improvement over their 2017 valuation - 4th-lowest % increase among returning NHFL franchises) can be traced to a mostly frustrating end to the 2017-18 season, and a rough go of it out of the gate to start the 2018-19 season.
While things are currently looking up for the Cambridge Tchuggs as their on-ice play and results are finally starting to align - it's the Tchuggs' franchise awards cupboard that is confusingly bare, especially for a roster that has run some of the most dominant players of the current generation on their lines. After missing the playoffs for a second consecutive year, the Tchuggs have appeared to right the ship, as their attendance figures are displaying a recent upward trend. The Tchuggs home arena is scheduled to host the growing-in-popularity NHFL Hockey Day in Canada, which is an excellent opportunity to engage a new generation of fans.
A modest drop in revenue from 2017, coupled with an 18.5% increase in operating income perfectly summarizes the enigma that is the Cambridge Tchuggs organization - devastatingly good on paper, but a mixed bag of performance in real time. An 8th overall valuation rank among NHFL clubs seems low, and may very well be a blip on the radar when these valuations are revisiting a year from now.
Expect Tchuggs' valuation to comfortably exceed the $1 billion threshold in 2019.
2017
After a run to the 2016 Fifty Mission Cup Final, the Fisher Kings narrowly missed the 2017 playoffs. The franchise-best postseason/regular season performance in 2015-16 boosted sponsorship revenue more than 20% for the current season.
The Fisher Kings were able to secure a brand new arena as part of a larger redevelopment plan in Cambridge’s Fiddlesticks area. NHFL commissioner Michael Hayman voiced his support of the plan and said, “A new downtown development is vitally important to the long-term future, stability and competitiveness of the Fisher Kings. We believe this plan provides a solution for the Fisher Kings to thrive in the long term.” Attendance has remained strong for the Fisher Kings, despite the narrow miss of the 2016-17 NHFL playoffs. The season ticket base continues show unwavering support behind a team that has as much star power as any in the NHFL.