The Knicks’ historic playoff run comes as stock in the company that owns the team has more than doubled during the past year — with Wall Street just as giddy as fans over the franchise’s trip to the NBA Finals.
Madison Square Garden Sports — the James Dolan-run company that also owns the NHL’s New York Rangers — notched a record high of $390.12 a share on Thursday, the day after the Knicks clinched a 105-95 Game 1 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
Shares in MSGS soared Monday to hit a fresh intraday high of $392.56 before finishing marginally lower, ahead of Game 3. The stock has rallied 100% over the last year, giving the sports conglomerate a $9.2 billion market cap.
“Everyone is talking about how it’s $10,000 to get into MSG for the NBA Finals,” investor Joe Pompliano tweeted over the weekend. “Not enough people are talking about how the Knicks publicly traded stock has outperformed pretty much everything outside of AI over the last year.”
MSGS did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
After failing to win a title for over half a century, the Knicks’ 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals has pushed ticket resale prices well above $10,000; led to rambunctious watch parties and some arrests; and drawn celebs like actors Timothée Chalamet and Ben Stiller to the front row. President Trump and Mayor Zohran Mamdani are planning to attend Game 3 on Monday evening.
But perhaps even more notable is the team’s effect on the stock price, which is raking in billions for investors after years of trading at a steep discount that fans have dubbed the “Dolan Discount.”
Analysts are optimistic the rally is far from over, as a growing number of fans take interest in the stock and the Knicks are expected to bring in massive amounts of cash with every home game.
“It’s great to see the Knicks winning on the court,” Christoper Marangi, president of Gabelli Funds, a major shareholder in MSGS, told the Wall Street Journal. “But from my perspective it’s even better to see shareholders winning.”
MSGS saw one of the biggest boosts to its stock earlier this year when the sprawling sports empire moved to split the Knicks and Rangers into two separate, publicly-traded companies – a move analysts predicted could unlock billions of dollars in trapped franchise value.
The stock kept soaring as the Knicks kept winning, and the Big Apple rooted for the beloved team to make it to their first finals in 27 years.
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“The playoff run has acted as a catalyst, but it seems the market is also revaluing the underlying asset,” Ken Mahoney, chief executive of Mahoney Asset Management, told The Post.
“Professional sports franchises rarely become available, and as the Knicks move closer to a championship, investors are placing a higher premium on one of the most iconic franchises in global sports,” he added, nodding to the proposed Knicks-Rangers split.
Some investors have taken a more cautious approach to the stock rally.
“Sports teams have never been valued by normal investor metrics. Private investors have taken the risks and reaped the rewards of what’s best thought of as ‘trophy’ valuation,” Kenin Spivak, CEO of SMI Group, told The Post. “There is no reason to believe the surge in value will hold for very long.”
An Eastern Conference Finals home game can be worth roughly $20 million for the company, according to earlier financial disclosures – and the NBA Finals games will certainly rake in even more cash.
While sales from the flashy $10,000-plus tickets will mostly be pocketed by re-sellers, the Knicks are still seeing strong revenue growth in merchandise sales and other areas, Mahoney said.
Another financial win for the team comes from Jalen Brunson, the team’s captain and superstar point guard – whose most-recent contract was relatively cheap, according to the Journal.
Brunson reportedly left more than $100 million on the table when he signed a contract worth just under $40 million annually over four years, allowing the Knicks to scoop up more talent.
“He’s certainly, in relative terms, underpriced for all that he’s done for the team,” Jonathan Boyar, principal at the Boyar Value Group and an MSGS investor, told the Journal.
