Raphael Stevens

The new system will play a beep if a customer has a boarding group that has not been called yet.
Airlines offer their big-spending frequent flyers earlier boarding as a perk and are trying to prevent line cutters.
American Airlines tested the technology in Albuquerque; Tucson; and Washington, D.C., airports.

Haiyun Jiang | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Watch out, line cutters. American Airlines is rolling out new technology across the country to crack down on travelers trying to get on the airplane before their boarding group is called.
Customers who try to scan a boarding pass before their group is called will hear a two-note sound and be turned away, the airline said.

American Airlines has nine boarding groups, ranging from first-class customers and top-tier frequent flyers to travelers who purchased basic economy fares, or the least-expensive tickets. Airlines reward their high-paying elite frequent flyers with perks such as earlier boarding, and have been trying to keep it exclusive.
The new technology as of Wednesday is in more than 100 nonhub airports around the U.S. following tests over the past month at Albuquerque International Sunport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Tucson International Airport, American Airlines said.
The airline plans to roll it out to hubs later.

The technology will roll out just as American expects 8.3 million people to board its planes between Nov. 21 and Dec. 3, which it considers the Thanksgiving travel period, an increase of 500,000 customers over last year.
Other airlines have experimented with new ways to prevent gate crowding, which helps board planes faster while also trying to protect early boarding for the swelling ranks of elite frequent flyer loyalty program members.
United Airlines texts customers when it is time to board and provides live updates to customer’s iPhones and Apple Watches with a countdown-to-boarding clock. It also has digital signs showing which boarding group has been called.

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A Cleveland group is submitting a proposal to bring a WNBA team to Northeast Ohio.
The Cleveland Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland believe they have right fan base and infrastructure to support a team.
The WNBA plans to grow the league to 16 teams by 2028.

Dan Gilbert Cleveland Cavaliers owner talks during a press conference introducing new head coach John Beilein at Cleveland Clinic Courts on May 21, 2019 in Independence, Ohio. 
Jason Miller | Getty Images

Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, wants to bring a WNBA team to Northeast Ohio.
Rock Entertainment Group, the umbrella company that hosts Gilbert’s sports and entertainment properties, told CNBC on Wednesday that it intends to submit a proposal for a WNBA expansion team.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said she hopes to grow the league to 16 women’s basketball teams by 2028. As women’s sports continues its growth trajectory, a host of cities are coming to the table with their pitches.
Officials in Cleveland — home to professional teams like the NBA’s Cavaliers, NFL’s Browns, MLB’s Guardians and American Hockey League’s Monsters — believe they are well-positioned for a women’s franchise.
“We have this unique convergence of infrastructure, culture and these foundational pieces that we think make Northeast Ohio, and specifically Cleveland, a great opportunity to expand from a WNBA perspective,” Nic Barlage, Cleveland Cavaliers CEO, told CNBC.
As an example, he cited the Cavs recently announcing that they are joining forces with the Cleveland Clinic to create a new Performance Center to provide state-of-the-art training for both the Cavs and the public. The Cavs also have an existing practice facility in Independence, Ohio, which they said could be ready-made for a WNBA team.
Barlage said Cleveland also has a track record of passionate fans that support their teams in good times and bad.

“Cleveland is a real crazy sports town,” said David Gilbert, CEO of the Cleveland Sports Commission. “It’s so closely tied to the identity of the city that’s had, the last couple of generations, some tough times.”
The Cleveland Cavs are off to their best start in history, currently sitting in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 15-1 record.
Engelbert spoke about expansion last month ahead of the WNBA Finals, saying there is no shortage of competition for an expansion team, with at least 10 cities expressing interest.
Potential suitors also include Denver, Miami, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Philadelphia.
“The good news is we have a lot of demand from many cities,” she said. “I think the more people are watching the WNBA and seeing what we’re growing here and seeing these players and the product on the court, more people are interested in having it in their cities.”
With Englebert leading the way, the league has already seen some expansion. The WNBA’s 13th franchise, the Golden State Valkyries, will kick off their season in 2025, and Toronto and Portland, Oregon, were awarded the 14th and 15th franchises earlier this year.
“We’re not in a huge rush. We’d like to bring it in in ’27 or no later than ’28,” Engelbert said in regards to a timeline for a 16th team.
The league said it is looking at a wide range of factors in a city when it comes to picking an expansion team, including practice facilities, a committed ownership group, demographics and Fortune 500 companies.
The WNBA has tapped investment bank Allen & Company to lead the expansion process. Coincidentally, Allen and Company also helped Gilbert when he purchased the the Cavs in 2005.

Cleveland’s case

This would not be Cleveland’s first foray in the WNBA. The city hosted one of the WNBA’S original franchises, the Cleveland Rockers from 1997-2003. The team folded after seven seasons as the team’s owner, Gordon Gund, cited low attendance and said he could not find a way to make the team profitable.
“I have invested in it now for seven years trying to find a business model for it to work in our marketplace,” Gund said in 2003. “The fans we had were very enthusiastic and very supportive. We just didn’t have enough.”
The league was not able to find new owners, and Gund turned his attention to the Cavs and their pursuit of Cleveland’s hometown hero LeBron James.
Yet, a lot has changed in the 20-plus years since the Rockers folded, as the WNBA and women’s sports are seeing major upticks.
The WNBA last month delivered its most-watched finals game in 25 years. The league also saw fans coming out in droves, giving the WNBA its best attendance record in 22 years. And it’s translating to the wallet — merchandise sales are up more than 600% from 2023.
Cleveland itself has also gone through a resurgence, too, in part kicked off by James’ return to the city back in 2014. The Washington Post Editorial Board even published a piece in January calling Cleveland “America’s best example of turning around a dying downtown.”
“We firmly believe we sit at the nexus of the Mediterranean of the Midwest and there’s no reason why we can’t have and manifest all the same opportunities that some of the higher growth markets you may see in the southern half of the country have,” Barlage said.
Since 1994, the Cavs, Monsters and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse have generated $6.5 billion in total output, according to the Cavs 2024 Community Impact Report. The Cavs Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse hosted more than 150 events this year, including the 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four, helping to stimulate millions for the city.
“I just feel extraordinarily confident that, should a team be given to Cleveland, in part because of the city, in part because of what sports means here, in part because of the Cavs, it would immediately be a huge success,” Gilbert said. More

News, insights and analysis on what professional sports teams are worth.

The National Hockey League is commanding more respect when it comes to team values.
The average NHL team is worth $1.92 billion, according to CNBC’s Official 2024 NHL Valuations, and recent transactions come at revenue multiples that rival deals done in Major League Baseball.

What accounts for the league’s ascension?
Steady revenue growth combined with a hard salary cap and a leaguewide revenue-sharing system all but ensure profitability for the league’s 32 teams.
For the 2023-24 season, the NHL’s hockey-related revenue was $6.3 billion, 8.6% higher than the previous season, according to the league. The NHL also hit record national sponsorship revenue last season, bringing in $250 million, as well as record regular-season gate receipt revenue of $2.4 billion, the NHL said.
That growth, combined with richer media deals, is contributing to a better bottom line for professional hockey. The average NHL team posted EBITDA of $45 million on revenue of $223 million for the 2023-24 season, according to CNBC calculations.
Here is how the NHL’s 32 teams stack up:

CNBC’s Official NHL Team Valuations 2024

Rank
Team
Value
Revenue
EBITDA
Debt as % of Value
Owner(s)

1.
Toronto Maple Leafs
$4B
$324M
$139.5M
5%
Rogers Communications, BCE, Larry Tanenbaum

2.
New York Rangers
$3.5B
$317M
$80M
1%
Madison Square Garden Sports

3.
Montreal Canadiens
$3.1B
$302M
$111.2M
7%
Molson family

4.
Los Angeles Kings
$2.85B
$337M
$110.1M
4%
Philip Anschutz

5.
Boston Bruins
$2.75B
$280M
$78.8M
4%
Jeremy Jacobs

6.
Edmonton Oilers
$2.65B
$379M
$156.9M
3%
Daryl Katz

7.
Chicago Blackhawks
$2.6B
$265M
$103.3M
4%
Wirtz family

8.
Philadelphia Flyers
$2.25B
$247M
$39M
0%
Comcast

9.
Washington Capitals
$2.1B
$246M
$79.3M
9%
Ted Leonsis

10.
Detroit Red Wings
$2.05B
$239M
$34.3M
4%
Marian Ilitch

11.
New Jersey Devils
$2B
$267M
$50.4M
6%
David Blitzer, Josh Harris

12.
Vancouver Canucks
$1.95B
$226M
$31.1M
6%
Aquilini Investment Group

13.
Dallas Stars
$1.9B
$244M
$80.6M
8%
Tom Gaglardi

14.
Vegas Golden Knights
$1.85B
$221M
$49.4M
8%
Bill Foley

15.
Tampa Bay Lightning
$1.8B
$220M
$39.7M
12%
Doug Ostrover, Marc Lipschultz, Jeff Vinik

16.
New York Islanders
$1.77B
$207M
$29.2M
18%
Jon Ledecky, Scott Malkin

17.
Pittsburgh Penguins
$1.75B
$218M
$42.3M
11%
Fenway Sports Group

18.
Calgary Flames
$1.7B
$183M
$29M
5%
N. Murray Edwards

19.
Colorado Avalanche
$1.65B
$195M
$20.6M
21%
Stan Kroenke

20.
Seattle Kraken
$1.6B
$184M
$19.4M
29%
David Bonderman, Samantha Holloway

21.
Minnesota Wild
$1.55B
$202M
$31.5M
11%
Craig Leipold

22.
Nashville Predators
$1.5B
$192M
$27.8M
7%
Bill Haslam

23.
St. Louis Blues
$1.47B
$189M
$6.5M
9%
Tom Stillman

24.
Anaheim Ducks
$1.43B
$175M
$20.1M
21%
Henry Samueli, Susan Samueli

25.
San Jose Sharks
$1.4B
$168M
($3.3M)
4%
Hasso Plattner

26.
Florida Panthers
$1.35B
$181M
$6.6M
12%
Vincent Viola

27.
Carolina Hurricanes
$1.3B
$184M
$25.4M
15%
Tom Dundon

28.
Utah Hockey Club
$1.2B
$119M
($6.3M)
26%
Ryan Smith, Ashley Smith

29.
Ottawa Senators
$1.18B
$154M
$3.8M
23%
Michael Andlauer

30.
Buffalo Sabres
$1.15B
$169M
$15.8M
4%
Terry Pegula, Kim Pegula

31.
Winnipeg Jets
$1.1B
$163M
$1.3M
12%
Mark Chipman, David Thomson

32.
Columbus Blue Jackets
$1B
$148M
($1.5M)
13%
John McConnell, Nationwide More

TJX Companies beat Wall Street’s estimates and raised its full-year profitability guidance.
The off-price giant, which owns TJ Maxx, Marshall’s and Home Goods, said it was seeing a “strong start” to the holiday shopping season.
TJX is still managing to grow sales even as it laps tougher comparisons from the year ago period.

A sign hangs at the entrance of a T. J. Maxx store on February 28, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. 
Scott Olson | Getty Images

TJX Companies touted a “strong start” to the holiday shopping season on Wednesday, but its shares slid after the fast-growing retailer offered guidance that appeared to underwhelm Wall Street.
TJX comfortably beat Wall Street’s expectations during its fiscal third quarter, but it’s expecting earnings per share for its holiday quarter to be between $1.12 and $1.14, behind expectations of $1.18, according to LSEG.

Here’s how TJX performed compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $1.14 vs. $1.09 expected
Revenue: $14.06 billion vs. $13.95 billion expected

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended Nov. 2 was $1.30 billion, or $1.14 per share, compared with $1.19 billion or $1.03 per share, a year earlier. 
Sales rose to $14.06 billion, up about 6% from $13.27 billion a year earlier.
“Across the Company, customer transactions drove our comp sales increases, which tells us that our values and treasure hunt shopping experience are appealing to a wide range of customers,” CEO Ernie Herrman said in a news release. “The fourth quarter is off to a strong start, and we are excited about our opportunities for the holiday selling season. In stores and online, we are offering consumers an ever-changing and inspiring shopping destination for gifts at excellent values, and feel confident that there will be something for everyone when they shop us.”
Following a year of torrid growth, the discounter behind Marshalls, HomeGoods and T.J. Maxx is still increasing sales. It’s winning over value-seeking consumers who are trading down from department stores like Macy’s and Kohl’s, and making strides with younger shoppers who don’t see off-price shopping as a stigma.

Earlier this year, TJX’s European business struggled due to issues with its execution, but the division posted strong results during the fiscal third quarter. Comparable sales increased 7% in TJX’s international channel.
Before the company reported, some analysts were concerned that TJX and other off-price retailers like Burlington Stores and Ross Stores could be disproportionately impacted by the unseasonably warm weather in October. Off-price retailers tend to be affected by unfavorable weather patterns more than traditional retailers because lower-income shoppers typically buy things when they need them — not ahead of time, Bank of America analysts wrote in a research note.
During the fall months, retailers with heavy exposure to apparel, such as TJX, count on shoppers coming in to buy new coats and other gear for the cooler weather. If its lower income consumer held off on those purchases because the weather was warm, it could have dinged TJX’s sales.
However, warmer than expected weather didn’t appear to have a major effect on TJX’s sales. More

The NHL is one of two of the big four North American sports leagues with a hard salary cap, meaning each team cannot have a payroll over a predetermined amount in a given season.
For the 2024-25 season, the upper limit is $88 million and the lower limit is $65 million.
A salary cap has been in place since right after the labor dispute that caused the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 NHL season.

The Florida Panthers pose for a team photo following game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on June 24, 2024.
Icon Sportswire | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images

For a National Hockey League team to hoist the Stanley Cup, it takes playing an 82-game regular season, winning four playoff series and some strict attention to math along the way. 
The NHL is one of two of the big four North American sports leagues with a hard salary cap, meaning each team cannot have a payroll over a predetermined amount in a given season.

For the 2024-25 season, the pay ceiling is $88 million and the lower limit is $65 million. Therefore, regardless of whether a team is worth as much as the Toronto Maple Leafs at $4 billion, or as little as the Columbus Blue Jackets at $1 billion in CNBC’s Official NHL Team Valuations, every team is on roughly equal footing for how much they can pay players.
The range is calculated by using a formula outlined in the league’s collective bargaining agreement that involves taking a percentage of the previous year’s preliminary hockey-related revenue, among other inputs.
There was a brief pause in year-over-year salary cap increases when the league’s revenues took a hit during the Covid-19 pandemic in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
The pay limit has been in place since the end of a labor dispute that caused the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 NHL season.
The National Hockey League Players Association and NHL after that campaign agreed to a collective bargaining agreement, or CBA, that included a salary cap, among other terms, for the following season. The current CBA was put in place beginning with the 2012-13 season after a shorter labor disagreement that led to an abbreviated 48-game slate.

The NHL and NHLPA declined to comment for this story.
Sports business experts said the strict salary cap has helped the league’s financial health since the full season stoppage.
“Since that [missed season], the NHL has had notable fiscal stability, which I think a lot of leagues are probably impressed with how the NHL is run,” said Syracuse University professor of sports management Rick Burton, who authored “Business the NHL Way: Lessons from the Fastest Game on Ice.” 
Burton pointed to the increase in franchise valuations, attendance and salary health as ways the NHL has shown success over the past couple of decades.
“The net result, I think, looking back over the last 20 years, is that both parties worked together to bring about a solution that appears to have worked pretty significantly,” he added.
The hard salary cap is a stark difference from Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association, which have no salary cap and a soft salary cap, respectively. Both of those leagues have some version of a fee that teams have to pay when they exceed a certain threshold. 
The National Football League, along with the NHL, has a hard salary cap, something sports leagues have traditionally used to try to keep parity and prevent the richest teams from taking top talent. 
“If you have a business that limits the amount that wealthy owners can put into the players, it will enable the lesser clubs to compete with the more wealthy clubs,” said Irwin Kishner, a sports lawyer at Herrick Feinstein and co-chair of the firm’s Sports Law Group.
It’s not that payroll management isn’t important in other sports. The MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers reworked Shohei Ohtani’s contract to have $680 million of the $700 million deal deferred, with payouts on the bulk of it not beginning until 2034, according to The Athletic. The NBA’s New York Knicks caught a huge break when their star Jalen Brunson agreed to take more than $100 million less than he could have in his contract extension, according to ESPN.
But the hard cap means NHL teams have to be especially diligent.
There are some exceptions to the NHL’s $88 million max, one of which is the long-term injury clause that allows teams to be over the cap for the duration of a player’s injury. But the team has to be at or below the salary cap once the injured player is healthy again and ready to rejoin the team.
The memorandum of understanding that extended the current CBA will expire in September 2026, and a new CBA will be negotiated between the league and the NHLPA. The NHL is planning to start negotiations with the NHLPA in early 2025, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said at this year’s NHL Board of Governors meeting. More

The NHL’s Utah Hockey Club kicked off its first season in Salt Lake City this fall after relocating from Phoenix.
The team expansion comes as Salt Lake City is considered one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. — and tech billionaire and Utah native Ryan Smith invests heavily in professional sports there.
Utah Hockey Club has gotten off to a fast start with attracting fans well versed in the sport in the winter city.

Bruce Bennett | Getty Images

Salt Lake City checked all the boxes for a new professional sports team — particularly in the National Hockey League.
One of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. boasting one of the hottest job markets, Utah’s state capital — with the help of tech billionaire Ryan Smith — is pushing to be a sports hub.

Salt Lake City kicked off its first season in the NHL this year after the Utah Hockey Club relocated from Phoenix. The early excitement of the fanbase, marked by sellout crowds and high merchandise sales, is solidifying Salt Lake City as a sports market.
The city has been home to the National Basketball Association’s Utah Jazz for more than four decades. Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake and the National Women’s Soccer League’s Utah Royals are also part of its pro sports landscape. Smith Entertainment Group, founded in 2020 by Ryan and Ashley Smith, is an owner in all of those teams. Along the Wasatch Mountains, the city will also host the Winter Olympics for the second time in 2034.
“I don’t see things slowing down in Utah,” Smith said in an interview. “We have big families here, and people want to stay here.”
Smith was hungry to add an NHL team to the mix at a time when many, including the league’s Commissioner Gary Bettman, believed Salt Lake City was ripe for the expansion. Its growing and changing demographics — which Smith said were on display when it hosted the NBA’s All-Star Game earlier this year — had readied the city for a new team.
“Salt Lake City is known for winter sports. It has a very vibrant economy,” said Bettman in an interview. He added that the city had a major share of residents who likely would be both interested in hockey and able to afford to go to games.

The investor group alongside Smith carried out surveys and other research to determine if the city could support a new team, said Chad Hutchinson, a partner at sports-focused investment firm Arctos Partners. Not only did it show Salt Lake City wanted another team, but it also showed that the city had a strong interest in hockey.
That enthusiasm has shown since the NHL season started in October.
“Everyone walks into the bowl of the arena and they say, ‘I cannot believe the NHL is here. We have an NHL team,'” Smith said.
So far, every one of the 11,131 unobstructed view seats at Delta Center has been sold out, according to the Utah Hockey Club. It expects to sell out every game for the rest of the season. There are 4,000 to 5,000 obstructed view seats that can be opened up depending on demand, and thousands have also been filled for most games so far.
At the inaugural game, merchandise sales doubled the previous record set during any single-night sporting event at the Delta Center. There was also a record-breaking demand for beverages, with beer sales reaching $120,000, more than any other NBA or NHL event held there, according to the team. The Utah Hockey Club generated the highest retail sales on its opening night of any hockey team this season, including the Florida Panthers, the 2023-24 Stanley Cup champions, according to the Utah Hockey Club.
The trend has continued since opening night, according to the Utah Hockey Club.
As of Nov. 15, the Delta Center had sold nearly $600,000 in beer through its first seven regular-season hockey games, nearly three times the amount of beer sold in five Utah Jazz home games this season. In total, the arena has seen a 395% increase in beer sales for NBA and NHL events compared to roughly the same period last year.
When the team’s inaugural season jerseys went on sale at the arena on Friday, the Utah Hockey Club’s team store set the record for the second-best single-game merchandise sales total during the regular season and playoffs, trailing the Vegas Golden Knights during a 2023 postseason game. It was the best NHL regular-season single-game net merchandise sales total, topping the previous record by 29%.
“Opening night was unbelievable,” said Hutchinson. The Utah Hockey Club received 34,000 season ticket deposits before opening day. “So the demand is absolutely there.”

Moving to the mountains

Utah ranked as the second-least stressed city in the U.S., according to WalletHub.
Darwin Fan | Moment | Getty Images

The NHL’s expansion to Salt Lake City was not typical.
“Utah is actually not an expansion, it’s a relocation,” said Irwin Raij, co-chair of Sidley’s Entertainment, Sports and Media industry group. “Utah wanted a team aggressively. There are other markets that want a team — heck, Arizona wants a team, right?”
The Arizona Coyotes faced issues in finding a permanent arena, which led to an expedited sale of the team this year.
A few years ago, Smith voiced his interest in owning a hockey team in Utah, said Bettman. In April, the NHL gave him the opportunity, and Smith reportedly paid $1.2 billion for the franchise. In the scramble to be ready for the 2024-25 season, Smith had to keep spending.The Delta Center, which Smith bought along with the Utah Jazz in 2020, was immediately renovated with new hospitality areas and a locker room for the Utah Hockey Club. It will also undergo further changes to reduce the number of unobstructed view seats for hockey games. The goal is to have 17,000 seats for hockey in the next three years, with most or all having unobstructed views.Smith also invested in a former Olympic facility for the team to use for practices over the summer. He then acquired a mall in a local suburb with plans to build a permanent training facility on the site, to be ready in 2025.
“[The Smiths] really, in effect, probably paid $200 [million] or $300 million more than is actually being reported,” Bettman said.
After the deal closed, the ownership group flew team members and their families from Arizona to Salt Lake City. There was a greeting party at the airport and the ownership group hosted an event at the Delta Center over three days, said Hutchinson of Arctos Partners. Real estate agents drove everyone around looking for homes, while the Coyotes’ front office was told they had jobs in Utah.
“He was able to accomplish things in a handful of months. Nobody has ever done anything like this before,” Bettman said. “We knew we were getting people who were very involved in the community, very progressive and very tech savvy. They had the resources to make this happen.”

Smith’s sports play

Tech billionaire Ryan Smith speaks at a press conference to announce the renewal of the 5 for the Fight Qualtrics Jersey Patch through the 2022-23 season at Zions Bank Basketball Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Oct. 21, 2019.
Melissa Majchrzak | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

While varying factors made Utah ready for a new sports team, Smith was the biggest force in making it happen.
“The Smiths, by all accounts, are good owners who are willing to invest and are thoughtful,” said Shirin Malkani, co-chair of the sports industry group at Perkins Coie. “A lot of the leagues, looking back over the last 20-plus years, have seen people coming out of the tech world as being good owners. They understand an investment and the technology piece, which if you’re not good at that, you’re not reaching your fans where they are.”
Smith, 46, founded Qualtrics in Provo, Utah, opening the gate for other tech companies in the state. A top tech market in the U.S., it is often referred to as the “Silicon Slope.”
A lifelong Utah Jazz fan, Smith started down the path of sports in Utah when he bought the team. He said in an interview he is in his “second career.” He reportedly paid $1.66 billion for the team. The purchase was followed by his move in 2022 to invest, alongside David Blitzer, in Real Salt Lake and its National Women’s Soccer League affiliate.
Smith has helped to breathe new life into Real Salt Lake, which has seen its already-strong fanbase grow, said Chris McGowan, executive vice president and chief club performance officer at MLS. McGowan, who works with clubs on business strategies, noted how the team has built up its fanbase through season ticket sales, stadium improvements and new hires since Smith bought in.
Being an owner of multiple teams, especially in one market, also makes Smith’s job easier. His deep ties in the community have helped on that front, many in the industry said.
“When you represent multiple organizations in one market, you can go to sponsors and potential sponsors with a more powerful package,” said McGowan. “You can do a lot of things from an economy of scale.”
Utah Hockey Club has signed sponsorship partners including Delta Air Lines, SeatGeek, American Express, Ford, Verizon and Coca-Cola. In less than six months, it is pacing to be in the top 20 in the NHL for sponsorship and ticket revenue this season, according to the team, despite having less capacity than nearly every NHL franchise. It has also teamed up with local partners on various fronts.
But McGowan, who has worked with other pro sports teams in the past, including the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, which had preseason games in Salt Lake City in the past, and the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, said sports have long been important there.
“From the first game in the arena, Gary Bettman turns to me and says, ‘They’re cheering, they’re booing and sighing at all the right moments,'” said Smith. “Which is a very good indication that there is some hockey knowledge, right?” More

The NHL believes it can capitalize on the global popularity of hockey and improve its standing in countries where the league does not yet have as strong of a foothold.
The first two regular-season games of the 2024-25 season were played in Prague, followed by two more in November in Tampere, Finland, for this year’s NHL Global Series.
International expansion means more robust recruiting, a bigger audience and more revenue and sponsorship opportunities.

A general view during the 2022 NHL Global Series Challenge between the Nashville Predators and the San Jose Sharks at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic, on Oct. 7, 2022.
Martin Rose | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

If all goes according to plan for the National Hockey League, its popularity will continue growing well beyond the confines of the countries where its teams are based.
Through events both inside and outside the U.S. and Canada, the NHL believes it can capitalize on the global popularity of the sport of hockey and improve its standing in countries where the league does not yet have as strong of a foothold.

Much of that effort has so far centered on Europe, specifically countries such as Sweden and Finland where hockey is already a popular sport. The first two regular-season games of the 2024-25 season were played in Prague, followed by two more in November in Tampere, Finland, for this year’s NHL Global Series.
All four of the games were sold out, said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly.
“We think we’re uniquely positioned in hockey, in the NHL, because hockey is such an international sport and we have a strong tradition of high-level players being developed in Europe,” Daly said in an interview with CNBC. 
Executives from several of the teams that played in Europe this year said it was encouraging to see local support for American hockey teams.
“One of the more eye-opening experiences for me was seeing just how many international fans there were and how many Devils fans there were that are truly on a global and world stage,” New Jersey Devils President Jake Reynolds said in an interview. 

Jumping the pond

The NHL Global Series is not new. The event in its current form started in 2017, with a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Regular-season games in Europe date back even further, and the NHL has a long history of playing exhibition games against local teams abroad.
The league also hosts fan tours, this year from Aug. 31 to Nov. 2 across Europe, as a way for fans to engage with the NHL through games, prizes and a peek at the coveted Stanley Cup at some of the stops.
In February, the NHL will host its first-ever 4 Nations Face-Off, an international event where league players from Canada, Sweden, Finland and the U.S. will play for their native countries. 
In 2026, NHL players are planning to participate in the Olympics for the first time since 2014. The hope is that increasing exposure for NHL players on a global stage will be a tailwind for the league. 
“They are looking to make the game as global as possible because we operate in a global economy,” said Rick Burton, a professor at Syracuse University and co-author of “Business the NHL Way: Lessons from the Fastest Game on Ice.”
“So you can’t say, ‘Well, this game is only for North Americans.’ It simply isn’t,” Burton said.
Burton also said he would not be surprised to see an NHL team — or a few — launch in Europe in the future.
Daly did not rule out the possibility, but categorized it as a longer-term play if it were to ever happen.
Europe offers an obvious opportunity for NHL growth. Roughly 30% of the league’s players are European, Daly said, which is part of the reason for the warm reception to the Global Series and the strong turnout.
“Sometimes it gets lost how much fun it is,” Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. “It’s really fun to go play hockey over there.”

Sam Reinhart, #13 of the Florida Panthers, prepares to shoot the puck against Miro Heiskanen, #4 of the Dallas Stars, during the third period of the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland game at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland, on Nov. 2, 2024.
Andre Ringuette | National Hockey League | Getty Images

This season’s Finland games, between the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers, featured players Aleksander Barkov and Roope Hintz, who are both Finnish. When the New Jersey Devils played the Buffalo Sabres in the Czech Republic, both teams leaned into their past and present Czech players. 
“We brought some really good teams and some good European players back to their home markets,” Daly said.

Greater leverage

Taking the NHL’s product outside the U.S. and Canada to grow its audience will give the league more bargaining chips the next time it negotiates media rights, according to Irwin Kishner, a partner at Herrick Feinstein who has advised sports leagues on media rights, stadium financing and many other sports law pieces. 
“The more eyeballs you have, the more valuable the signal can be,” Kishner said. “And it’s more that you can drive on sponsorship, the more that you can pay for players, the richer the league becomes.”
The NHL’s current media rights deal goes through the 2027-28 season, and if recent sports media rights trends continue, the NHL would also be looking at a hefty increase in its contract value. Live sports have been one of the last pieces of appointment viewing holding together traditional pay-TV bundles, meaning media companies have been willing to pay a premium for the rights.
Revenue from the NHL Global Series, as well as most other international events, goes to the league’s hockey-related revenue, according to the collective bargaining agreement, which is split between the league and players.
There are also revenue opportunities at the individual team level through corporate sponsorships.
Dallas Stars President Brad Alberts said he is interested in exploring a partnership with Nokia, which has a large presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and is based in Finland. The New Jersey Devils swapped out their typical Prudential helmet decal with Prudential’s international arm, PGIM, for the European games, Reynolds said.
In all the initiatives expanding outside the U.S. and Canada, the NHL and the National Hockey League Players Association work together. 
The two parties are often at opposite ends of the table when negotiating labor contracts, but when it comes to making hockey and the NHL more popular, the organizations are aligned, according to both the NHL and the NHLPA.
“You see it in private sector. When unions and businesses work in the private sector to grow a business, you see a lot of success,” NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh said in an interview.
Despite many of the league’s efforts being focused on Europe, there is plenty of interest in other markets. 
Prior to the 2023 season, the NHL had preseason games between the Los Angeles Kings and the Arizona Coyotes in Australia, the first time the NHL played in the Southern Hemisphere. The Vegas Golden Knights, one of the newer teams in the league, have devoted resources to grow its fan base in Latin America.  More

Target missed third-quarter earnings and revenue estimates and cut its full-year guidance.
Target struggled to drive sales even after reducing prices on thousands of items.
The results come a day after Walmart beat Wall Street expectations and hiked its outlook.

People are seen at the parking lot of a Target store in Selinsgrove. 
Paul Weaver | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Target on Wednesday missed Wall Street’s quarterly earnings and revenue expectations and posted only a slight uptick in customer traffic, despite the discounter’s price cuts on thousands of items and its early holiday sale. 
The big-box retailer reversed course and cut its full-year profit guidance, just three months after hiking that forecast. It said it expects full-year adjusted earnings per share to range from $8.30 to $8.90. That’s lower than the $9 to $9.70 per share range that it shared in August and below the $9.55 a share expected by analysts, according to StreetAccount.

Target now expects fourth quarter comparable sales to be approximately flat. That metric, which is also known as same-store sales, includes sales on its website and stores open at least 13 months. 
Target missed Wall Street’s earnings per share estimate by 20%, its biggest miss in two years. It also marked its first revenue miss since Aug. 2023. 
The company’s shares plunged more than 15% in premarket trading.
On a call with reporters, CEO Brian Cornell said “lingering softness in discretionary categories” and costs associated with rushing shipments and preparing for the short-lived port strike in October hurt the company’s quarterly performance. 
Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke said “it’s disappointing that a deceleration in discretionary demand combined with some cost pressures have caused us to take our guidance back down after raising it last quarter.” But he added that Target feels confident in its long-term outlook. 

Here’s what Target reported for the three-month period that ended Nov. 2 compared with what Wall Street expected, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $1.85 vs. $2.30 expected
Revenue: $25.67 vs. $25.90 billion expected

Target, which is known for its cheap chic spin on clothing, home goods and other discretionary merchandise, has struggled to attract steady foot traffic and higher sales. Shoppers have been selective about spending after cumulative years of pricier food, housing and more. 
To woo price-sensitive consumers, Target announced in May that it would cut prices on about 5,000 frequently purchased items, including diapers, bread and milk. It announced another wave of price reductions in October on more than 2,000 items during the holiday season, including cold medicine, toys and ice cream.
Target said it will have lowered prices on more than 10,000 items this year by the end of the holiday season.
Target offered those discounts after hearing from shoppers about “the importance of value and affordability,” Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez said. He added the price cuts on frequency items leaves more room in customers’ budgets to splurge on products that they want, whether it’s a new outfit or beauty item.
Yet those price cuts weren’t enough to lift Target’s performance in the fiscal third quarter. 
Target eked out a comparable sales gain of 0.3%, as shoppers spent more on its website but less at its stores. That fell short of the 1.5% gains that analysts expected, according to StreetAccount. 

Target’s fiscal third-quarter net income tumbled about 12% to $854 million, or $1.85 per share, from $971 million, or $2.10 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose from $25.40 billion in the year-ago period.
Customer traffic across Target’s stores and website grew 2.4% year over year. Digital sales were a bright spot, growing 10.8% year over year because of double-digit gains with curbside pickup and almost 20% gains with same-day home deliveries. Comparable store sales, however, declined 1.9% year over year. 
Customers gravitated toward food and everyday essentials during the quarter, along with beauty items. Comparable sales in that category, which includes sales at Ulta Beauty shops inside of Target, grew more than 6%. Two other categories, food & beverage and essentials, posted low single-digit gains compared with the year-ago period.

The Minneapolis-based retailer’s results clash with trends at Walmart, which on Tuesday reported improving sales trends in discretionary merchandise for the second quarter in a row. Walmart also said it’s gaining market share among upper-income households. 
The two big-box retailers, however, have a different sales mix, as groceries account for about 60% of Walmart’s U.S. business but only about 23% of Target’s in the most recent fiscal year, according to the companies’ financial filings.
Gomez said the retailer is contending with savvy and selective shoppers who aren’t willing to buy until the price is right. 
“Consumers have become increasingly resourceful and strategic on how they shop,” he said. “They know deals are out there. They’re willing to search for them, and they’ll wait for the exact right moment to head into our stores or log on to our app.”
For example, Gomez said the week ahead of Target’s Circle Week, a promotional event in October, was quieter. But it was the biggest Circle Week to date in terms of sales, and 3 million new members signed up for Target’s loyalty program, he added.
Gomez said Target is seeing momentum when it offers eye-catching merchandise, such as debuting new workout gear, pet accessories, seasonal flavors of food or a fresh hair care line.
Higher supply-chain costs posed another challenge in the quarter, Fiddelke said. As the company geared up for the port strike, which wound up lasting only a few days, Target rerouted and rushed shipments and loaded up on inventory to make sure it had the merchandise that it needed for the holiday season. 
“That came at a cost,” he said. “It meant we were fuller a little bit earlier in the quarter than we would like to be, and we’re never quite as efficient when our buildings are full, but we felt like that was the right decision to really protect the guest experience.”
Shares of Target have lagged behind the S&P 500. As of Tuesday’s close, Target’s stock is up about 9.5% this year, compared to the S&P 500’s approximately 24% gains during the same time period. The company’s stock price of around $155 is also well off the pandemic highs, when its stock rose to nearly $270.
– CNBC’s Robert Hum contributed to this report.

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