New York Knicks and Rangers Have a Combined Value of $1.5 Billion

Madison Square Garden is about to be spun off in an IPO, from its parent, Cablevision.

This creates the opportunity to look at the financial numbers of my New York Knicks and also the New York Rangers in more detail.

MSG will have no debt when it is spun off and will start out showing $100 million a year in income before interest payments, taxes and other deductions.

In addition to its sports division, MSG includes a media group that runs a regional sports network and an entertainment group that operates sites including Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theater, as well as the Christmas Spectacular show.

Based on MSG’s finances, Richard Greenfield, an analyst at Pali Capital, said that the Knicks and the Rangers together have a market value of at least $1.5 billion, which would put them among the most highly valued franchises in professional sports.

How bad have the Knicks screwed up in recent years. Here's NYT:

The release said that the sports group took charges of $104.9 million over the past three and a half years “relating to players on our sports teams for career-ending injuries and for waivers and terminations of players and other team personnel, including team executives,” a reference to the Knicks’ former coach, Isiah Thomas, among others.

The full story is at NYT.