Particularly when it comes to the insulated leagues of North America, sports team owners tend to boast tremendous wealth both when they become team owners and thereafter.
Boasting its own popular leagues as well as ties to the Major leagues established in the United States, Canadian sports teams have become very valuable, and thus have attracted owners who are worth billions.
This is the list of the wealthiest owners in Canadian sports based on the information made publicly available by trusted sources like Forbes’ billionaires list.
1) True North Sports and Entertainment
-
Teams: Winnipeg Jets (NHL)
-
Key Owners: David Thomson (US$57.3bn), Mark Chipman (US$600m)
As the 23rd highest net worth individual in the world, it was always going to be tough for another wealthy Canadian sports team owner to rival the $57.3 billion of David Thomson.
He partakes as an owner of the Winnipeg Jets via True North Sports and Entertainment, to which he’s a partner with Mark Chipman, the company’s chairman.
Unfortunately, since the duo took full control of the company and relocated the Atlanta Thrashers to become the Winnipeg Jets in 2011, the team has yet to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.
This isn’t through a lack of trying, though, as the Jets have developed a strong core of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Joshua Morrissey, and Connor Hellebuyck – but have some contract problems to sort out soon.
The betting markets have the Jets out at +4000 to win the Stanley Cup in 2024, predominantly due to the presence of the Edmonton Oilers (+800) and Colorado Avalanche (+850) in the same conference, but the roster is stronger than those odds would allude to.
2) Rogers Communications
-
Teams: Toronto Blue Jays (MLB)
-
Key Owners: Rogers Family (US$24.3bn)
Rogers Communications is one of the biggest companies in Canada, and it just so happens to be the whole owner of the Toronto Blue Jays in the MLB and has a roughly one-third share of a company that owns the other major Toronto sports teams.
Edward S. Rogers III currently chairs the sprawling company and is estimated to have a personal wealth of some US$11.5 billion, while the market capitalization of the company, at the time of writing, was US$24.3 billion.
Either of these figures would rank the owners of the Blue Jays as the second wealthiest owners in Canadian sports, especially because Rogers Communications owns one-third of the next highest-ranking owners on this list.
Boasting a 37.5 percent share of the owning company, Rogers Communications can also claim partial ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, and Toronto Argonauts.
3) Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment
-
Teams: Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL), Toronto Raptors (NBA), Toronto FC (MLS), Toronto Argonauts (CFL)
-
Key Owners: Larry Tanenbaum, Rogers Communications, and BCE Inc. (US$8bn)
The Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment company is presently owned by BCE Inc. (37.5%), Rogers Communications (37.5%), and Larry Tanenbaum (25%) via holding company Kilmer Sports, but according to Bloomberg, the company is valued at over US$8 billion.
This comes after Tanenbaum announced that he’d be selling a portion of his 25 percent to the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System.
The amount being sold is yet to be revealed publicly, but Tanenbaum currently sits as chairman, making him the more active owner of the three companies with a piece in all of these Toronto-based sports teams.
4) Saputo Group
-
Teams: CF Montréal (MLS)
-
Key Owners: Saputo Family (US$4.6bn)
Chaired by Lino Saputo Jr., the Saputo Group made its fortune in cheese and remains an international titan of the industry, now said to be worth US$4.6 billion.
Importantly here, the family has a major stake in MLS team CF Montréal via Lino Sr.’s other son, Joey Saputo. He became the team’s president in 1992 once the family company became the sole owner of the club.
As it stands, CF Montréal rank as the lowest-value team in the MLS, but a run to the Quarter-Finals of the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League will give cause for optimism going forward.
5) OEG Inc.
-
Teams: Edmonton Oilers (NHL)
-
Key Owners: Daryl Katz (US$4.4bn)
Owned by the Oilers Entertainment Group, the Edmonton Oilers come under the purview of the Katz Group of Companies, which is owned by Daryl Katz.
During the turmoil of the mid-00s, the owner of the Rexall pharmaceutical company swooped in to purchase the Oilers in 2008 and has slowly helped to build the team back to relevance.
Led by Connor McDavid, the Oilers have made it to the Conference Finals and Second Round in the last two seasons, and have made a significant offseason signing in the form of Connor Brown.
Brown played with McDavid in his Erie Otters days, so he will presumably sit to the centre’s right during the new season, with Evander Kane on the left wing.
It’s not clear if this will somehow power up McDavid even more, but it’d be worth watching the early live betting online markets for Oilers games if the two look to have rediscovered their youth hockey chemistry.
Other Wealthiest Owners in Canadian Sports
There are plenty more billionaire Canadian sports team owners in the mix, but the wealth of some – particularly Greg Kerfoot (Vancouver Whitecaps, MLS) – should be taken with a pinch of salt due to limited information.
Without further ado, here are estimated figures relating to some of the other richest Canadian sports teams owners:
-
Aquilini Family (US$3.3bn) Vancouver Canucks
-
N. Murray Edwards (US$2.5bn) Calgary Flames, Calgary Stampeders
-
Greg Kerfoot et al. (US$2bn) Vancouver Whitecaps
-
Pierre Karl Péladeau (US$1.9bn) Montréal Alouettes
-
Molson Family (US$1.8bn) Montréal Canadiens
-
Michael Andlauer (US$1bn) Ottawa Senators
-
Amar Doman (US$654m) BC Lions
*Credit for all images in this article belongs to AP Photo*
