OT: James Dolan prepares to sell Knicks?

[AIexisLafreniereNYR]

MSG shares soar as Dolan lays groundwork for sale of Knicks

MSG shares soar as Dolan lays groundwork for sale of Knicks
For Dolan, it could be another savvy business move. For long-suffering fans, it could be liberation

James Dolan, the owner that Knicks fans love to hate, may be laying the groundwork for a sale of the franchise. Shares in Madison Square Garden Co. soared on the news.

Late yesterday Dolan announced he was exploring a spin-off that would separate the Knicks and the Rangers from the rest of Madison Square Garden. While Dolan would remain in charge of the teams, at least at first, putting them together in a separate public company would offer him the chance to whittle down his stake easily if he chooses. Dolan is understood to be more interested in music and building cutting-edge entertainment venues than sports.

"He wants to be more Elon Musk than George Steinbrenner," an analyst told Crain's in an article last month.

That article explained how Dolan's reputation in the business community has grown substantially in recent years even as sports fans continue to revile him for his executive-office decisions. Dolan smartly read the prevailing winds in media three years ago, when he decided to sell Cablevision for $10 billion, before it was ravaged by cord-cutting, and invest the proceeds in the live-entertainment arena.

If Dolan does in fact spin off the Knicks and the Rangers, it would mark the first time the teams haven't been owned by Madison Square Garden. The Garden has controlled the Rangers since the team was founded in 1926, while the Knicks were launched by an MSG president in 1946. Whenever the Garden changed hands over the years to corporate owners including Gulf & Western, ITT and Cablevision, the teams came along in a bundled deal.

Charles Dolan, founder of Cablevision and HBO, acquired the Garden and its teams for $650 million in 1997. He bequeathed them to his son Jim two years later. MSG's market value is now $7 billion and jumped 14% today on news that Dolan might be preparing his exit.

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[sbjnyc]

On what basis does the move indicate a sale of either team let alone the Knicks (and don't forget the Liberty are included in the move)? Unless stock market investors are Knick fans, the increase in share price is probably related to the tax implications of the spin-off and the ability to sell MSG's air rights.

 

[hi]

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

On what basis does the move indicate a sale of either team let alone the Knicks (and don't forget the Liberty are included in the move)? Unless stock market investors are Knick fans, the increase in share price is probably related to the tax implications of the spin-off and the ability to sell MSG's air rights.

It's basically laying the groundwork for him to keep MSG but sell the teams as he moves on to other business and music ventures. It's like step 1 of 25. He may not ever take any of those 24 other steps

 

[Blueshirts777]

He's spinning it off to help fund his sphere project. The rest is clickbait and jumping to conclusions. As fans we should be happy that we can potentially "own" a piece of the Rangers and Knicks.

 

[AIexisLafreniereNYR]

It's basically laying the groundwork for him to keep MSG but sell the teams as he moves on to other business and music ventures. It's like step 1 of 25. He may not ever take any of those 24 other steps

Better than nothing lmao. I'll take that.

 

[Ori]

Maybe it`s too much job? Although Dolan sometimes watch Rangers live - so he seems to enjoy hockey though, but a rebuild is probably boring for him since you need to be patience to build a new team in the draft.

 

[sbjnyc]

It's basically laying the groundwork for him to keep MSG but sell the teams as he moves on to other business and music ventures. It's like step 1 of 25. He may not ever take any of those 24 other steps

There is 0% chance he sells the Knicks. If anything he'd sell the Rangers first but he wouldn't do that either.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

There is 0% chance he sells the Knicks. If anything he'd sell the Rangers first but he wouldn't do that either.

You asked for an explanation of what it said so I explained. I never said whether I thought he'd sell although I strongly hinted at what I was thinking. Chytilx3 seemed to pick up on it.

Just to be clear the answer is no. I don't think he's even remotely close to selling. Him and the idea exist on separate planets

 

[sbjnyc]

You asked for an explanation of what it said so I explained. I never said whether I thought he'd sell although I strongly hinted at what I was thinking. Chytilx3 seemed to pick up on it.

Just to be clear the answer is no. I don't think he's even remotely close to selling. Him and the idea exist on separate planets

I didn't ask for an explanation, I asked for how the article (or anyone reading it) could come to the conclusion that Dolan was selling the Knicks.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

I didn't ask for an explanation, I asked for how the article (or anyone reading it) could come to the conclusion that Dolan was selling the Knicks.

That's exactly what asking that meant. It meant you were seeking to have pretty much the main point explained to you. Since the entire crux of the thing was what you didn't seem to understand..

 

[sbjnyc]

That's exactly what asking that meant. It meant you were seeking to have pretty much the main point explained to you. Since the entire crux of the thing was what you didn't seem to understand..

No, it was pretty obvious that the article was clickbait.

 

[GregNYR89]

MSG: James Dolan Has No Plans to Sell Knicks, Rangers Despite Speculation

 

[n8]

my first reaction was that more likely, he would sell MSG and we'd all have to suffer forever.