James Dolan’s rein continues.
The increasingly hands-off owner denied a report that he was preparing to unload his sports franchises, even as his company’s market value rose $1 billion over the last two days of trading.
“There are no plans to sell the Knicks or the Rangers,” read a statement from The Madison Square Garden Company.
Two days earlier, Dolan announced he was exploring a move to separate the Knicks and Rangers from the rest of MSG. Theoretically, that would make it easier to sell his stake. It prompted MSG’s stock to soar 18% and, according to a Crain’s report, speculation that Dolan had cleared a path to sell.
However, one financial insider told the Daily News he believes Dolan isn’t separating his businesses to sell the Knicks but rather to create capital for new arena projects in Las Vegas and England. Dolan has become increasingly preoccupied with his entertainment businesses and distant from the Knicks, leaving the basketball decisions to team president Steve Mills, and Phil Jackson, previously.
“He wants to be involved in other things – growing the business of the Garden, new arena development, different kind of things,” Mills said on ESPN Radio. “He doesn’t want to get involved in what we’re doing.”
But apparently that doesn’t mean he will sell.
Dolan, the lead singer in a blues band, has long been infatuated with music and smartly sold off Cablevision for $10 billion just before cord-cutting went mainstream. His basketball team has largely been a disaster, however, since Dolan took over for his father in 1999.
He is reviled as the Knicks owner, fueling the speculation he might sell because it has defined Dolan’s reputation negatively.
The spinoff proposal includes the following assets on the sports side: the Knicks, Rangers, Westchester Knicks, Hartford Wolf Pack and the Liberty.
The live entertainment side includes: Madison Square Garden, the Hulu Theater at MSG, Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theatre, the Forum in California, the Chicago Theatre and the Wang Theatre in Boston.
If the spinoff goes through it would represent the first time the Knicks and Rangers have not been owned by Madison Square Garden.
