After last-year’s lockout, the 2013-24 season is in many ways a fresh start for the NHL. With a 10-year collective bargaining agreement in place, the future is bright for the fastest sport on two legs.

According to Sports Business Journal, league executives expect an additional $1 billion of cumulative revenue over the next three seasons. The last full season generated 3.2 billion in revenue, so this would be the equivalent to a 10% annual increase.

The Wild card has been around in the NFL for almost 50 years, which makes it the grandfather of the Wild Card.  It’s been almost 20 years since MLB introduced their version and this year the NHL will introduce the third wild card amongst the four major sports leagues.  The NHL’s version will not increase the number of teams in the postseason, but it will allow for two wild-card team in each division, regardless of what division they’re in.  As with the NFL and MLB, the wild card creates some unlikely outcomes; and that unpredictability creates fans interest.

We expect that the wild card will drive up prices for NHL tickets for more teams come May, and create the most interesting NHL playoff push in years. Because it’s so new, no one knows what to expect, which is part of the fun.  Amidst all the questions, the most interesting one is how long will it take before we have the first Wild Card Cup? In MLB, the wild card has won the World Series five times out of the last 18 years.  In the NFL, six wild card teams have gone onto to win the Super Bowl. Across both the NFL and MLB, eight wild card teams have won a championship in the last 10 years. The increase in wild card winners only reinforces the value of getting hot at the right time.  As hockey fans know, there is perhaps no sport where being hot means more than in the NHL.  It would not be a surprise to see at least one wild card competing for Lord Stanley come June. Last year, if we had had a wild card, the Islanders would have been out, and the Red Wings would have been in. Islanders tickets this year have the highest increase of any team, which has largely been driven by excitement for the team coming off that playoff appearance and some hope for the future.

In addition to a new Canadian TV rights deal, the projected increase in revenue will be driven by higher ticket prices. Compared to the start of last season (in January), the average ticket price on the secondary market is up 14%. That is in part being driven by scheduling changes this year, which include a visit from every team in the league.

Additionally, the NHL has increased the number of outdoor games from one to six, as a result of the wildly-successful Winter Classic series, now in it’s sixth year. This year, there are six outdoor games being played from New York to LA, and the average price across all of those games is $456.

By comparison, the average price across the league for this season is $168. At an average price of $456, Winter Classic tickets are not even the most expensive outdoor game. That distinction belong to the first-ever hockey game at Soldier Field between the Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins. Blackhawks tickets for that game have an average price of $672.

The Blackhawks have the second-most expensive average price of any team this year, behind only the Maple Leafs. Their $313 average price is also up 57% from last year, driven by increased demand to see the Stanley Cup champions. While the market has had a lot to do with that, so has the team. In August, they announced a 17% price increase from last year. It’s the second highest price increase in the last two years behind only the Kings. In the past, season ticket holders would have benefited most from that price increase.

Now, however, the teams are making sure they maximize profits. The Blackhawks move illustrates a new reality in the business of sports, which is that in addition to getting bigger, teams and leagues are also getting a lot smarter. For the Blackhawks, that price increase equates to almost $10 million in found money. As far as the league’s $1B estimate, the Blackhawks have already generated 1% of it…even before a single puck has dropped.