Tampa Bay Lightning to be sold in multi-billion dollar record-breaking deal

This afternoon a report from Elliotte Friedman revealed that the Tampa Bay Lightning will be sold in the coming days. The report confirms that Jeff Vinik will be selling a majority stake of the franchise to Doug Ostrover for nearly 2 billion dollars.

This would be a monumental deal for the NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning. The current record for a franchise sale is the Ottawa Senators and that sale was under 1 billion dollars. The new prospective owner Doug Ostrover comes from owning Blue Owl Capital.

If this sale does go down and ends up being as monumental as expected it could be massive for the hockey world. The Tampa Bay Lightning 10 years ago were not one of the most valuable franchises in the NHL. However, one dynasty and several Stanley Cups later, and now they are the highest-priced team in the league.

This sale could incentivize owners to try and compete and spend to the salary cap in pursuit of a similar return in the future. Of course, many owners do not plan to sell their franchises but it could be a good incentive for some owners who in the past had none to invest in their teams.

Once the sale is officially completed it will be wild to see what the final sale number ends up being and how it impacts the popularity and interest in the NHL.