The Answer — And Why the Canadiens Are the NHL’s Best Candidate

Sports fans love talking about “global brands.”

The Yankees, Lakers, Cowboys, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United — teams whose cultural footprint extends far beyond their city or league. These franchises don’t just win games; they sell identity, mythology, and continuity across generations.

But in a world saturated with entertainment, does any team today realistically have a shot at joining that tier?

And more specifically: Could an NHL team ever break into that group?

The short answer: Yes — but only under the right conditions, and only if they embrace a global-first mindset.

The longer answer reveals something more interesting: Montreal is sitting on the most untapped global brand opportunity in hockey.

Let’s break down why.

Why Only a Handful of Teams Become Global Brands

Sports franchises don’t become global by accident. They require:

1. Iconography

A logo, color, or symbol recognizable anywhere on Earth.
The Yankees cap. Barça’s stripes. The Lakers’ purple and gold.

2. Narrative

A story that transcends wins and losses: dynasties, legends, heartbreak, redemption, identity.

3. Cultural Depth

If a team represents something bigger than itself — a city, a people, a philosophy — it has global resonance.

4. Media and Distribution

You cannot become global without a global storytelling engine.

For decades, teams like the Lakers and Yankees rode national TV to global prominence. Today, that role is played not by ESPN or NBC, but by:

  • YouTube
  • TikTok
  • Shorts
  • Instagram
  • global OTT platforms
  • multilingual content networks

5. A Willing Owner With Ambition

Barcelona didn’t become Barcelona accidentally — they engineered it.

Same with Man Utd. Same with the Warriors.

Global relevance requires intentional strategy.

Which Teams Today Have a Shot at Going Global?

Let’s be intellectually honest. Only a small number of franchises have the DNA, history, and narrative depth to break out globally.

In North America:

  • Yankees (already global)
  • Lakers (global)
  • Cowboys (global)
  • Warriors (globalizing rapidly)
  • Celtics (latent global potential)
  • Maple Leafs & Canadiens (latent cultural power)
  • Dodgers & Cubs (strong brand architecture)

But potential is not destiny.

A brand only becomes global if someone builds the bridge.

Why the Canadiens Are the NHL’s Best Candidate for Globalization

This is where the conversation intersects directly with the earlier Montreal analysis.

The Canadiens today sit at a valuation of $3.4B, making them one of the NHL’s crown jewels. But ask a simple question:

What is their valuation if they remain a primarily local/regional brand?
Answer: maybe $6B–$7.5B in 20 years — doubling, more or less tracking league averages.

But what if they embraced a genuine global strategy?

  • multilingual content
  • global camps & academies
  • creator-first storytelling
  • massive YouTube expansion
  • positioning Montréal as hockey’s cultural capital
  • tying the Habs brand to global hockey culture
  • partnering with a global media engine
  • becoming the NHL’s international flagship franchise

Now the math changes dramatically.

A globalized Canadiens brand is worth $10B–$15B in 20 years.

This isn’t about ticket sales in Montréal.
This is about:

  • merchandise in Europe
  • fandom in Latin America
  • youth engagement in Asia
  • global video storytelling
  • goodwill and brand meaning
  • cultural exports

The Canadiens’ greatest underutilized asset is not the roster — it’s their mythology.

And mythology scales globally when media scales globally.

What Prevents Teams From Becoming Global?

Three barriers:

1. Owners who think locally

Legacy thinking kills global ambition.

2. Leagues that underinvest in international strategy

MLB, NBA, NFL — they’re improving, but slowly.
The NHL remains North America–centric.

3. Lack of a global media partner

This is the most overlooked factor.

Traditional broadcasters don’t build global fandom — digital platforms do.

YouTube has more power to globalize a sports team today than NBC ever did.
TikTok has more power to create cultural relevance than ESPN ever has.

This is where the Canadiens have an unusual advantage:
modern partners exist who can help them jump the line.

The “Montreal IF” — The Bridge to Globalization

Here is the concrete opportunity:

If the Canadiens decide they want to be a global brand,
they can become one faster than almost any franchise in the NHL.

Because they have:

  • the heritage
  • the languages
  • the symbolism
  • the history
  • the diaspora
  • the narrative depth
  • the multilingual base
  • the cultural weight

What they lack is a global content engine and an owner openly committed to a global-first trajectory.

If Geoff Molson ever asked:

“What should my legacy be?”

The honest answer is:

He can remain the steward of the Canadiens — a noble path.

Or he can become the governor who globalized the NHL.

The latter path is worth billions in unlocked enterprise value, and it is uniquely available to him.

The Role of Media in Creating a Global Sports Brand

WatchMojo has spent 18+ years building global audiences across dozens of languages.
Unity — the internal OS — now provides a turnkey way to manage:

  • rights
  • creators
  • fan engagement
  • real-time distribution
  • multilingual publishing
  • analytics
  • global reach

Sports teams don’t have that infrastructure.
But they need it.

If the best thing a team can own is the game,
the second-best thing is the platform that tells the world about it.

This is why the Canadiens could become the Lakers of hockey.
Not because of geography, but because of strategy.

So, Can Any Team Become a Global Brand?

Yes — but only if they choose to.

The modern sports landscape rewards teams that choose:

  • ambition
  • storytelling
  • media
  • digital mastery
  • global outreach
  • youth pipelines
  • cultural resonance
  • multilingual expansion

The Canadiens are the strongest candidate in hockey

not because they’re the best team —
but because they are the most meaningful.

Meaning scales.
Mythology scales.
History scales.
Culture scales.
And in the age of YouTube, those things scale globally.

The door is open.
The question is whether any team has the vision — or courage — to walk through it.