New York Knicks smash new record after $140m development

Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News via Getty ImagesThe New York Knicks are reaping the financial rewards after their historic NBA Championship triumph.

>The Knicks ended 53 years of hurt by beating San Antonio Spurs 94-90 to claim victory in game five of the best-of-seven series and win only the third championship since they were founded in 1946.

>It is a feather in the cap for James Dolan, who has been the Knicks single largest shareholder for almost three decades. Right now, the Madison Square Garden Sports CEO must be seeing dollar signs.

>MSG Sports – the company which houses both the Knicks and the NHL’s Rangers – currently has a market cap of $9.25bn, but analysts estimate the true enterprise value of the Knicks alone as closer to $10bn, while the Rangers are worth $3-4bn.

>Playing their home games at one of the world’s most iconic venues certainly helps.

>The playoff series, including the two games in New York, where some suites were fetching seven-figure sums, is estimated to have generated $140m in revenue all told.

Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty ImagesBut the financial benefits will extend well beyond money made through the turnstiles and on the concourses.

>The Knicks brand is iconic and their glory on the court has triggered a boom in merchandise sales.

>Fanatics, the company which handles merchandise sales on the team’s behalf, has today revealed that they averaged 8,000 sales per minute in the aftermath of the Knicks’ triumphs.

>Sales broke all records, not only in the NBA but across all major sports, gazumping the previous high watermark set by Philadelphia Eagles after last year’s Super Bowl.

>In terms of the NBA, the Knicks demolished the previous all-time record, which belonged to the Lakers in 2020.

>Fanatics released hundreds of bespoke pieces of merchandise to mark the event, with some high-fashion pieces going for thousands of dollars.

>The exact revenue impact for the Knicks isn’t yet known, but expect the economic impact to be seismic.