Bob CollinsIf you had to choose which team is more valuable, which would you pick? The Minnesota Wild or the Minnesota Timberwolves?
The Wild play in the “state of hockey” have a pretty sweet deal at the superior arena in the Twin Cities and are marginally successful in the league.
The Timberwolves haven’t been to the playoffs since the early days of the Bush administration, play in one of the worst arenas in the NBA, and have a hard time selling tickets.
Surprise! The Timberwolves are the more valuable franchise, according to Forbes.
The magazine today released its annual ranking of each NHL team’s value and says the Wild are/is worth $370 million and pulled in $111 million in revenue last year. That’s good for a respectable 17th in the National Hockey League.
But hockey is a regional sport without much in the way of a national TV contract. The NBA, for all of its occasional unwatchability, is still a fan favorite.
It takes a lot to lose dough as an NBA owner.
In its ranking of NBA teams, the Timberwolves are valued at $430 million, much more than the Wild even though the Wolves revenue was only $5 million more than the Wild.
Forbes says the operating loss for the Timberwolves is about half of that of the Wild.
