Bain Capital Tried To Buy Entire NHL in 2005 For $3.5 Billion

Published on August 9th, 2024 6:51 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


It was 2005, and the NHL was reeling from a ruinous lockout that wiped out an entire season and sent fans clamoring to other sports.

Bain Capital Partners LLC, a Wall Street buyout firm, and Game Plan International, an advisory firm, saw blood in the water.

The league had just lost a total of $500 million, and Bain Capital thought that many NHL owners would want out at the first opportunity.

Bain Capital/Game Plan came up with an idea - what if we bought the entire league?

Not just one team - the entire league.

Bain Capital and Game Plan International knew the sports game well. Bain Capital managing partner, Steven Pagliuca, was a co-owner of the Boston Celtics, while Game Plan had helped to advise on the sale of the Ottawa Senators.

The two sides decided to float an outrageous offer - we'll buy the ENTIRE NHL for $3.5 billion.

That would have valued each of the league's 30 team at roughly $117 million.

Teams like the Anaheim Ducks would have jumped on the idea, as they were worth roughly half of that amount at the time.

Higher value teams, on the other hand, such as the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers, would have turned down the deal immediately, as it would have dramatically undervalued the value of their franchises.

The proposed deal immediately fell flat with the owners, who rejected it immediately.

This was a wise move, as there are now at least a dozen teams that are worth north of $1 billion, including the Rangers and Maple Leafs, who are both worth more than $2 billion.

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To play devil's advocate for a second, you can't help but wonder the disaster that the NHL would have become if the deal to sell to Bain Capital had gone through.

After all, they are a buyout firm that wouldn't really be interested in running a league. Instead, they likely would have sold the league off for parts, possibly damaging hockey forever.

The NHL and all 30 of its leagues are likely now worth in the vicinity of $50 billion, so Bain Capital would have gotten an amazing deal.