James Dolan Wins With MSG Deal Even If Knicks Don’t
Merging Madison Square Garden with the broadcaster of the Knicks would be mutually beneficial after a rough year for sports and entertainment.
James Dolan has a better shot at a winning team if MSGE and MSGN are playing for the same one.
Photographer: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images
James Dolan likes the New York Knicks so much, he gave investors three ways to root for them in the stock market, splitting the Madison Square Garden Co. three ways over five years. There was the arena holdings, the affiliated cable channel and, of course, the team. The rationale for the spinoffs was described the same each time: to enable shareholders to “more clearly evaluate” the individual assets.
Now, with cable television in precipitous decline and Covid-19 making for a snail’s-pace recovery in large events, it might help if investors didn’t have such clarity. Plus, in the entertainment industry today, simplicity is out and bigger isn’t just better, it’s imperative.