The Knicks’ first NBA title in 53 years was undoubtedly big business. Now it’s becoming more clear just how much so.
Madison Square Garden Sports Corp., the parent company for the Knicks and NHL Rangers, said Thursday that it generated $278.7 million for its fiscal fourth quarter that encompassed the Knicks’ 2026 playoff run, up 37% from the comparable period last year. Operating income, meanwhile, swung from a prior quarterly loss of $22.6 million in 2025 to a gain of $32.2 million.
Playoff-related revenue for MSG Sports rose by $66.9 million compared to last year, when the Knicks reached the Eastern Conference finals, accounting for 89% of the total quarterly revenue bump for MSG Sports.
For the entire fiscal year, MSG Sports generated $1.16 billion in revenue, up 11%, and $28.9 million in operating income, up 95%.
Within those aggregate lifts were a series of league and company records posted during the Knicks’ championship march. Among them:
- Several successive NBA milestones for single-game gate revenue. That fervent fan demand, captured by MSG Sports in the primary ticket market, was also seen in historic fashion on the resale market.
- The largest single-day mark for merchandise sales in Knicks history after the team closed out its Finals win over the Spurs.
- The addition of 2.2 million net new social media followers over the past year, many of them arriving during the NBA playoffs and bringing the combined following for the Knicks and Rangers to nearly 22 million.
“The Knicks’ playoff run took over New York City, from electric crowds in-arena for home games, to watch parties at various locations throughout the city, to unique activation from our marketing partners—all culminated with the championship parade attended by millions of fans,” MSG Sports COO Jamaal Lesane said on a call with analysts. “With this unprecedented momentum, we achieved a number of operational milestones.”
Looking ahead, MSG Sports is projecting further growth in several core areas, including tickets and sponsorship, as the Knicks defend their title during the 2026-27 NBA season.
Spinning Into Focus
MSG Sports, meanwhile, said Thursday it intends to complete the planned separation of its Knicks and Rangers business by the end of October.
That spinoff, first discussed publicly in February, is designed in part to provide investors greater clarity and upside into the respective businesses of each team. For the Knicks in particular, the current MSG Sports corporate structure could be seen as inhibiting the team’s value. The entire market capitalization of MSG Sports currently sits at about $10 billion. This week’s record-setting $12.5 billion sale of the Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, however, provides yet another look into what top NBA franchises can garner.
NHL franchises also continue to rise to unprecedented levels, burnished in part by that league’s still-rising economic prospects. As a result, it’s easy to see the potential combined value of the Knicks and Rangers on the open market standing at more than $15 billion.
MSG Sports, however, said that the company and executive chairman and CEO James Dolan are not actively pursuing minority stake sales in either the Knicks or Rangers as a result of the forthcoming split, but aren’t ruling them out either.
“We continue to be confident in the value of our teams,” Lesane said. “We’re as confident as ever in that respect, and there continue to be reported transactions in the marketplace that demonstrate the value and scarcity of those assets. We would never rule out the possibility of a minority stake sale, but we don’t have anything further to report at this time.”
