Tom Mayenknecht: Leafs and Knicks are big brands with small success
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Bulls-of-the-Week
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The New York Knicks and the Toronto Maple Leafs have a lot in common when it comes to their status as two of the leading heritage brands in their respective sports of basketball and hockey. In fact, they have had very similar trajectories — for better and for worse — over much of the past 50-plus years.
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Both franchises tug at the historical roots of the two leagues they have been synonymous with, since 1946 in the case of the Knicks and 1917 in the case of the Leafs. They represent two of the four biggest sport markets in North America, with the Knicks playing in the city that never sleeps — the biggest media market in the U.S. — and the Leafs in the dominant sports market in Canada. They play out of two of the busiest arenas in the world, with the Knicks calling the iconic Madison Square Garden home and the Leafs at Scotiabank Arena, branded with the biggest naming rights deal in the world ($40 million per annum and $800 million over 20 years).
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The Knicks and the Leafs have been traditionally at or near the top of the Forbes franchise valuation lists since those enterprise value estimates were first created in baseball in 1998. New York is third on the current NBA franchise valuation list at $7.7 billion US while the $3.8 billion US Maple Leafs have led NHL valuations in recent years. New York drives an estimated $543 million US in annual revenues while the Leafs reportedly grossed more than $308 million US last year.
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The similarities are not limited to the dollars and cents that are central to the business of sport, with both franchises failing to consistently do as well in basketball operations on the court and in hockey operations on the ice as they have done in business. Outside of the 1950s, the early 1970s and the mid-1990s, the Knicks have had more than their share of frustration when it comes to championship-contending teams. Their championship drought dates back to 1970 and 1973. The last two times they made the eastern conference finals was in 1994 and 1999. Going into this year, all that they have had to show for the last quarter-century are division titles in 2013 and 2020.
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The Leafs shared the limelight with the Knicks in the mid-1990s, last making the eastern conference finals of the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs in 1994. Their last Stanley Cup victory at the end of the Original Six era in 1967 has become the stuff of legend. That was 57 years ago. And that's where the two storied teams went on divergent paths this past week. The Knicks eliminated the defending Larry O'Brien Trophy holders — the Boston Celtics — to reach this week's eastern conference finals against the Indiana Pacers. That keeps them alive for a chance to win their first championship in 52 years. And the television numbers will reflect that potential.
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Bears-of-the-Week
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The Leafs were in a similar position, playing against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in an eastern conference final that saw them an overtime goal away from a 3-0 best-of-seven series lead. That's where the Leafs took a wrong turn. And yet again, they are empty-handed after another missed opportunity for the core four of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares. The Game 7 loss last Sunday night effectively closed the door on the Brendan Shanahan era and a team presidency that goes back 11 years. It isn't what the scriptwriters were looking for in the rebuild of the mid-2010s. All that's for sure is that there are more questions than answers in Toronto this week. And it's over to the Edmonton Oilers as Canada's last chance to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1993.
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