Madison Square Garden Sports officially completed its spin-off on October 27th. Instead of holding one bundled stock (MSGS), investors now own two standalone companies: MSGK (Knicks) and MSGR (Rangers). For every share of MSGS owned, shareholders received 1 share of MSGK and 0.5 shares of MSGR.
The total combined value barely budged from pre-split levels, meaning the public market is still selling both teams at a massive discount compared to private market estimates from Forbes, Sportico, and CNBC:
- NY Knicks (MSGK): ~$8.2B Enterprise Value vs. $12.6B private consensus (~35% discount)
- NY Rangers (MSGR): ~$2.3B Enterprise Value vs. $3.8B private consensus (~40% discount)
The Catalyst: A Minority Stake Deal
I don’t see any reason for trophy franchises in the biggest sports market in the world to trade at such a steep markdown.
Splitting the teams up was step one. The real catalyst I’m watching for next is a minority stake sale to private investors or private equity. Now that the Knicks and Rangers are separated into clean, standalone companies, it’s much easier for an outside investor to buy 10% or 15% of either team. When that deal happens, it will set a real, private-market price tag on the franchise—forcing the public stock to jump and close the valuation gap.
The Bottom Line
Because that gap hasn’t closed yet, I am holding both MSGK and MSGR.
I wouldn’t consider selling either stock until that discount narrows to at least 20% to 25%. Until a minority deal prices these teams where they belong, the upside is just too big to pass up.