The details are in Article 49 of the CBA.
https://cdn.nhlpa.com/img/assets/file/NHL_NHLPA_2013_CBA.pdf
High level details:
- The revenue sharing pool is 6.055% of HRR. With an estimated $6.6B HRR this season that’s a $400m target revenue distribution pool.
This $400m comes from three sources:
- 50% of the total $400m from the top 10 revenue teams in proportion to their revenues.
- 35% of playoff gate receipt for all teams regardless of their revenue (note this is 35% of playoff gate, not 35% of the $400m commitment)
- If the previous two sources are not enough to fulfill the full 100% $400m pool then any remaining contributions to the sharing pool come from league-wide revenue sources Ike tv contracts and sponsorship which would otherwise have been split between the 32 teams.
Note: it is possible for a team to both receive revenue sharing while also paying into the revenue sharing pool if they make the playoffs.
The revenue distributions are more complicated, but distributions are proportional to how much revenue a team generates. With a maximum cap on how much a single team can receive. Teams generating more revenue will receive smaller distribution amounts than the teams generating less revenue. Any team generating less revenue than the league average is likely receiving a revenue distribution of some amount.
Note that distributions are all based on how much revenue a team generates, whether the team’s bottom line is profitable or losing money does not matter.