Madison Square Garden SportsMSGS

Key highlights

• Playoff revenue surge: Playoff revenue increased by $66.9 million compared to the same time last year, driven by the New York Knicks winning the NBA Championship. This deep run allowed the company to collect significantly more from tickets and merchandise than last year when the team only reached the conference finals.
• Rangers spin off timing: Management expects to finish spinning off the New York Rangers into its own separate company by the end of October 2026. This move will split the hockey and basketball businesses into two distinct stocks for investors to own.
• National media rights growth: Revenue from league distributions rose by $7.2 million, fueled by the start of the NBA's new national media rights deals. These larger contracts with TV networks provide a steady stream of high margin cash that grows as new league agreements kick in.
• Local media fees decline: Local media rights fees fell by $3.5 million because of changes to the broadcast deals with MSG Networks and fewer games being available for local TV. This shows the ongoing pressure on traditional cable TV revenue even for popular local sports teams.
• Full year revenue growth: Total revenue for the full year reached $1,153.8 million, which is an 11% increase over the previous year. This growth was supported by higher per-game spending across every category, including tickets, suites, and food.

Our take: This was a standout quarter that showed the massive financial impact of a championship run. Winning the title drove a 37% jump in quarterly revenue, proving how much a winning team boosts every part of the business. The upcoming Rangers spin off remains the main event for long term owners looking to unlock value.