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Take one look at filmmaker Spike Lee’s outfit and you know he’s all about the New York Knicks. A lifelong fan, Lee, at age 14, watched Willis Reed’s amazing performance against the Los Angeles Lakers in the seventh game of the 1970 NBA finals from the “nosebleed” (upper tier) section. During the heated Knicks-Pacers playoff series in 1995, Lee taunted Indiana Pacers star Reggie Miller during the decisive game. Premium seats (courtside, club level) were in the $5,000 range Boston Celtics-NY Knick
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Activist investor in Madison Square Garden Company, Blue Harbour Group, is reportedly encouraging the sale of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers in order to boost MSG share performance ahead of the planned spinoff, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.
Shares of Madison Square Garden rose 1.2% in premarket on Thursday on news that Blue Harbour Group’s Clifton Robbins estimates the two New York sports team are worth as much as $7.2 billion, and believe the sale would be a great way to maximize shareholder value.
James Dolan, executive chairman and CEO of MSG, has been planning to spinoff the struggling New York teams from the other MSG assets, which include the Madison Square Garden Arena and the Radio City Music Hall. Robbins, whose firm has a 4% stake in MSG, is reportedly pressuring Dolan to sell the sports franchises ahead of the planned spinoff in the begging of 2020.
MSG, which has a market value of about $6.6 billion, would get a large boost from the sale of the highly-valued assets. Robbins told Bloomberg he thinks shares of MSG are worth about $400 per share today. The stock closed at $275.72 on Wednesday.
Through Wednesday, shares of Madison Square Garden are up only 3% since January. The activist investor group has been looking into ways that MSG can boost share performance.
Blue Harbour Group did not immediately responded for comment from CNBC. MSG decline to comment.
Silver Lake Partners, which owns about 10% of MSG, reportedly offered buying a largest stake in the MSG sports teams ahead of the spin-off, the New York Post reported on Wednesday.
—read the full Bloomberg story here.
