Ever since the lockout in 2012, the NHL has been pushing hard for growth. They set a record in Canada for the rights deal to Rogers for Canadian national TV coverage, but they won’t do that in America when the NBC deal is renewed in 2021. However, they do want that deal to be a lot larger than it is now. Expansion teams have fuelled growth, and ticket sales in some of the worst markets have risen. The NHL has been projecting optimistic revenue growth for years that has been, at worst, a little too sunny an outlook, but was never wholly unrealistic.
NHL accounting in a pandemic season: divvying up debt instead of dollars
