The National Hockey League is preparing to distribute a record $170 million rebate to its players for the 2025‑26 season, a payout that follows the league’s decision to stop withholding escrow funds in January 2025. The move comes as the NHL’s revenue has outpaced player salaries, allowing the 50‑50 revenue‑share model to finally deliver a surplus to the athletes.
How the Escrow System Works
Escrow is a mechanism used by several North American sports leagues to ensure that player compensation does not exceed a predetermined share of league revenue. When actual revenues fall short of projections, a portion of salaries is held back and later returned to players if the league exceeds its financial targets. In the NHL, the escrow rate has fluctuated over the past decade, responding to economic shocks such as the COVID‑19 pandemic and the league’s recent growth spurt.
The surge in revenue is driven by multiple factors, including a new media deal in Canada valued at $11 billion CAD, which more than doubles the previous agreement, and record‑high arena attendance that reached 96 percent capacity during the regular season. These developments have pushed total league revenue to approximately $6.8 billion, or $7.5 billion when measured using the NHL’s local‑dollars calculation.
Under the new financial framework, each player will receive roughly 5.5 percent of the previous season’s salary as a rebate. Top earners such as Leon Draisaitl, who commanded a $16.5 million salary, are set to gain an additional $910,000, while stars like Nathan MacKinnon, Igor Shesterkin, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Mikko Rantanen will each see at least $825,000 added to their earnings.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman highlighted that every revenue source is growing, a stark contrast to the approaches taken by other leagues. The NBA, for instance, withheld 10 percent of player salaries in escrow during the same period, ultimately returning 55 percent of the $580 million pool to owners. The NFL ties compensation directly to revenue without using an escrow account, while MLB owners are exploring a similar revenue‑percentage model for their next collective bargaining agreement.
The current rebate marks the latest in a series of player windfalls. Previous seasons saw smaller additional payouts after the 2024‑25 and 2023‑24 campaigns, and earlier years featured modest surpluses — 4.6 percent in 2005‑06 and a 0.66 percent rebate in 2007‑08. The pandemic forced the league to increase withholding percentages, peaking at 20 percent in 2020‑21 to recoup a $1.5 billion debt, before scaling back to 17 percent and then 10 percent in subsequent years.
Looking ahead, the salary cap is projected to climb to $113.5 million by the 2027‑28 season, up from $88 million in 2024‑25. This upward trajectory suggests that future escrow rebates could become even more substantial, reinforcing the NHL’s reputation for a financially robust model that increasingly rewards its players.