No Deal! MSG Denies Rumors of Knicks Sale

MSG executives took away a dream of a James Dolan-less Knicks as quickly as it arrived.

Put away your checkbooks, New York Knicks fans. James Dolan isn't done with your team quite yet.

Knicks who've long had their fill of the Dolan era were granted a brief glimmer of hope when financial analyst and principal of Boyar Asset Management Jonathan Boyar appeared on CNBC's "Closing Bell: Overtime." Boyar hinted that the Knicks, as well as their icy brothers the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League, could transfer to new hands once the Madison Square Garden Company's entertainment division finishes a concert venue in Las Vegas. 

“We think it’s likely that after that is done, James Dolan, who controls the company, will sell the teams”

— Longtime MSG analyst Jonathan Boyar tells CNBC that Knicks & Rangers parent MSG Sports likely to sell after Vegas concert venue MSG Sphere is completed next year pic.twitter.com/p9eP5geBZn

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) August 16, 2022

"The Knicks were just valued at about $6 billion," Their sister company, Madison Square Garden Company Entertainment, is currently about to finish a project in Las Vegas called 'the sphere' and we think it’s likely that after that is done, James Dolan, who controls the company, will sell the teams.”

In a statement that will likely make Knicks fans seethe, Boyar noted that "the best thing that Dolan could've done over the past decade is not to sell the team", noting that it has only "gone up and up and up in value." But for a few minutes, Knicks fans who have had very little to celebrate under Dolan's ownership were granted a hint of change. 

This being Knicks basketball in the new century, however, it proved too good to be true. Per Tommy Beer, an MSG representative has declared that "we have no plans to sell either of the teams."

Doland has taken on a more active role in MSG's sports properties since the turn of the century, particularly in the affairs of a Knicks team that has won only a single NBA playoff series since the 2000-01 campaign. A long list of questionable decisions and controversies have included altercations with fans who have implored Dolan to sell the team, which is set to tip off its 2022-23 season on Oct. 19 against Memphis.