VOL 27 ISSUE 38, September 28, 2026
Nearly 20 years after beginning his tenure as the chairman of the National Hockey League (NHL) Board of Governors, Delaware North Chairman Jeremy Jacobs, who also owns the Boston Bruins, last week announced he is stepping down from the role.
Excerpts from the NHL.com story on the announcement are below.
“Serving as chairman of the NHL’s Board of Governors has been one of the greatest honors of my life, both professionally and personally,” Mr. Jacobs said in a statement. “I was first elected to the role in 2007, and nearly 20 years later, it’s well past time for me to pass the torch.
Mr. Jacobs will continue to serve on the Board of Governors’ Executive, Audit and Finance Committees. His chairmanship is succeeded by Ted Leonsis, governor of the Washington Capitals and chairman of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, who was chosen unanimously to serve.
“I’m proud of what the Board of Governors, and our commissioner, Gary Bettman, have accomplished over the last two decades,” Mr. Jacobs said. “We’ve reached landmark media rights deals, expanded to reach fans in new geographies of North America, and have put hockey on the world stage in new markets and with marquee events, all while prioritizing making the game safer for players and more fun and accessible for fans.”
Mr. Jacobs has had a distinguished career with the NHL since he acquired the Bruins and Boston Garden in 1975 when he was just 35 years old, an ownership that has included building a new arena in Boston, TD Garden, which is home to the Bruins and the NBA’s Boston Celtics. He is the longest-tenured singular owner across the four major professional sports in North America.
But perhaps his biggest moment in hockey came in 2011, when the Bruins, under his leadership, won the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1972, defeating the Vancouver Canucks. The Bruins would reach the Stanley Cup Final three times in the decade, losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013 and to the St. Louis Blues in 2019.
His work in the NHL and in hockey was honored in 2017, when Mr. Jacobs was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builders category. That, though, is far from his only honor. Mr. Jacobs was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, given the Hockey Legacy Award from the Sports Museum of Boston in 2012, elected to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2013, awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy, presented for “outstanding service to hockey in the United States” in 2015, and named to the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016.
“It has been one of the great privileges of my career to work alongside Jeremy Jacobs for the last 19 years as he led the Board of Governors with a rare combination of steadiness and vision,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “His wisdom and unwavering commitment to this league have helped guide us through a period of unprecedented growth, both on and off the ice. On behalf of the Board of Governors, our clubs and our fans, I want to express my deepest gratitude for his extraordinary service and his enduring legacy as one of the great leaders in the history of our game.”
Hockey was long a part of Mr. Jacobs’ life, with his family owning the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League when he was young. It came to the forefront when he bought the Bruins for approximately $10 million in 1975, when Bobby Orr still manned the blueline for the Bruins.
“As a player I knew of Mr. Jacobs’ passion for the Bruins,” Bruins President Cam Neely said in a statement when news broke that Jacobs had made the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017. “Over the past decade while in the front office, I have seen firsthand his dedication to winning, by consistently providing the Bruins the resources we need to compete for Stanley Cup championships and also his unmatched commitment to growing the game of hockey.”
Mr. Jacobs has overseen an impressive run for the Bruins, with the team making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 42 of his 50 seasons with the franchise. He also has overseen an impressive run for the NHL as a whole, with the league adding two franchises (the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken) during his tenure and ratifying a new collective bargaining agreement that took effect Sept. 16 and is set to run through Sept. 15, 2030.
“I want to thank my fellow owners, past and present, for the honor of serving as your chairman. Go Bruins.”