The Buffalo Sabres are worth an estimated $1.36 billion ahead of the 2025-26 NHL season. Team owner Terry Pegula purchased the franchise in 2011 for just $189 million, which means the organization's value has increased 620% in 14 years.
Sportico released updated NHL valuations for all 32 teams ahead of the league's new campaign, and the Sabres saw a 20% increase since last year's list.
The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to hold the top spot at $4.25 billion. The New York Rangers ($3.65 billion), Montreal Canadiens ($3.3 billion), Boston Bruins ($3 billion) and Los Angeles Kings ($2.96 billion) round out the top five.
Buffalo checks in at No. 29 in the ranking.
Buffalo Sabres ownership, led by Terry Pegula, continues to pinch pennies while the franchise's value skyrockets
Last week, Adam Gretz of Bleacher Report predicted the Sabres' 14-year playoff drought, which is the longest such streak in NHL history, will extend to 15 this season. He also took aim at Pegula when exploring what Buffalo must do to fix its longstanding problems.
"Ideally, a new owner, because the common denominator in this entire run of futility has been Terry Pegula," Gretz wrote. "If the Sabres fail again and don't do something drastic, then that would absolutely be the worst-case scenario."
Although more optimistic predictions about Buffalo's upcoming season do exist, the reality is most fans in Western New York have entered wait-and-see mode. They'll no longer spend their hard-earned money on a team that shows no urgency to win consistently.
The Sabres are trending toward entering 2025-26 with over $5 million in unused salary-cap space, which has become a frustrating theme in recent years, and they made a limited number of offseason moves despite missing the playoffs by 12 points last season.
Pegula, who also owns the Buffalo Bills, has allowed the NFL front office to operate without any financial restrictions amid the club's Super Bowl window. He hasn't afforded the Sabres front office, led by general manager Kevyn Adams, the same luxury.
So, if ownership isn't all-in on making sure the team is successful, why would fans be all-in?
The Sportico numbers show owning an NHL team is still a highly lucrative endeavor, and Pegula could cash out in a significant way if he wanted to trim his sports portfolio for a second time this year. (He already sold the National Lacrosse League's Rochester Knighthawks.)
It's a "be careful what you wish for" scenario for Sabres fans, though. If Pegula sold the Sabres to an individual or entity without Buffalo ties, relocation rumors could enter the conversation.
Ultimately, the best thing that could happen for Buffalo's hockey team is a long-awaited breakthrough season that includes a return to the playoffs (thus bringing in valuable postseason revenue) and the front office is then given the green light to spend more next summer.
Until playoff hockey returns to the 716, however, the Sabres will remain a league-wide laughingstock.