Photo Credit: The Athletic https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/3686641/2021/12/19/nhl-nhlpa-agree-to-temporarily-cease-cross-border-travel-olympic-participation-talks-ongoing/
Did anyone ever see it coming that one day the United States and Canada wouldn’t be best of friends? It would be like if your next-door neighbor you’ve known for 20 years, who babysits your kids and comes to all of your backyard parties, suddenly started charging you to use their spare parking spot in front of their house. Well, that is exactly what is happening, and the NHL was not prepared for it. The NHL is unique in the landscape of the Big 4 North American Sports Leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) in that roughly one quarter of its teams (and revenue) are based in Canada, while the remaining teams are based in the United States.[1] No other league has more than 1 team north of the border. The sudden trade war is starting to concern NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman because of the links between the two nations’ economies and the economic headwinds that can come with a trade war.[2] One of the biggest concerns is the potential fluctuation in spot rates between the US (USD) and Canadian (CAD) dollars.[3] All players get paid in US dollars, no matter where they play.[4] If the Canadian dollar drops relative to the US dollar because of tariffs, that will diminish Canadian purchasing power in the US.
Now, I don’t think anyone is going to feel too bad for the players who are making millions of dollars on very large contracts. Even those players on rookie contracts make almost $1 million per year.[5] But many teams draw cross-border crowds, with fans following their teams to road games, or even in border markets like Buffalo and Detroit, where fans freely move back and forth across the border to see their favorite team at home. This increase in the USD v. the CAD will limit the purchasing power for those fans coming to the US, making a night out at a hockey game, which is already an expensive proposition, even more expensive.[6] If families were already feeling the squeeze to take their kids to a game, the get-in price could very well jump to what the whole night out would cost. That means what you spent on the ticket, concessions, and souvenirs, is what it would cost just to get in the door. This will mean a significant drop in revenue for the league, and hit those border markets even harder. Additionally, Canadians are boycotting American events, which has already had a major impact on season ticket renewals for the Buffalo Sabres.
This will also have a further economic impact on these markets, as they may see fewer travelers coming to their cities, spending money at hotels, restaurants, and other attractions that tourists might visit. We already saw what kind of impact this might have during the COVID-19 pandemic when cross-border travel was suspended, which also impacted the NHL playoffs.[7] While the league was able to somewhat recover from that, I am sure nobody wants to go back to those dark days where fans could only dream of seeing their favorite teams on the ice live and in person.
[1] https://www.nhl.com/info/teams/
[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/05/nhl-commissioner-gary-bettman-us-canada-tariffs.html
[3] Id.
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6180400/2025/03/06/gary-bettman-united-states-canada-tariffs-nhl/
[5] https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nhl/news/nhl-entry-level-contract-rookies-first-deal/zvsxueyzyzfxdopcuzg0thgq#:~:text=Final%202023%20mock%20draft%20%7C%20Top,breakdown%20of%20the%20contract%20length:
[6] https://www.ticketmaster.com/nhl#:~:text=How%20Much%20Are%20NHL%20Tickets,cost%20between%20$100%2D$120.
[7] https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/3686641/2021/12/19/nhl-nhlpa-agree-to-temporarily-cease-cross-border-travel-olympic-participation-talks-ongoing/
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