TLDR
- Madison Square Garden Sports $MSGS closed up 5.25% at $414.12, a new all-time closing high, after reports of a $12.5 billion majority stake sale of the LA Lakers.
- The buyers are former Disney CEO Bob Iger and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner, purchasing from Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter.
- $MSGS is up 60% this year and 113% over the past 12 months, driven by rising NBA valuations.
- The company reports fiscal Q4 earnings Thursday, with analysts expecting EPS of $0.54 on revenue of $196.3 million.
- A Knicks or Rangers sale remains unlikely due to opposition from CEO James Dolan, who controls the company through supervoting stock.
Madison Square Garden Sports $MSGS closed at $414.12 on Wednesday, up 5.25%, after reports emerged that a group led by former Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner plans to buy a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers at a valuation of around $12.5 billion. That’s the stock’s highest ever closing price, and the biggest single-day percentage gain since February 18.
Madison Square Garden Sports Corp., MSGS
Intraday, the stock touched $415.99, up 5.7%, also a new intraday record.
The Lakers were last sold in June 2024 for $10 billion to Mark Walter, CEO of Guggenheim Partners, who bought out the Buss family. Now Walter is selling the majority stake to the Iger-Kushner group at a higher price. Walter also owns the Los Angeles Dodgers and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.
Shares of Madison Square Garden Sports reach new all-time high after news of Lakers sale
MSG Sports stock (Knicks+Rangers) has more than doubled in past year
In their annual NBA rankings Forbes, CNBC & Sportico all value Knicks close to Lakers
Lakers sale is for $12.5 billion pic.twitter.com/IdvEHOYD52
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) August 12, 2026
It’s worth noting that Walter’s financial empire is currently the subject of a federal investigation into whether private-credit deals involving his companies constituted fraud, according to The Wall Street Journal. His businesses have denied wrongdoing.
The Lakers deal is relevant to $MSGS investors because it raises the floor on NBA franchise valuations. The Knicks are widely seen as a comparable franchise to the Lakers, and analysts had already valued them at $9.8 billion to $10.1 billion. That number is likely to be revised upward.
Knicks Championship Adds to Momentum
The Knicks won their first NBA championship since 1973 on June 13, capping a historic run through the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals. That win is expected to have delivered a major revenue boost in the fiscal Q4 results due Thursday before the open.
Analysts expect EPS of $0.54 on revenue of $196.3 million for the quarter ended June 30. Guggenheim analyst Curry Baker has a more optimistic revenue forecast of $246 million, citing extra home games from the deep playoff run as a one-time boost.
$MSGS is up 60% in 2026 and 113% over the past 12 months. The stock carries a mean analyst price target of $441, implying around 12% upside from current levels.
Spin-Off Plans and Expansion Fees in Focus
The company filed an initial Form 10 in May to spin off the Knicks and Rangers into two separately traded entities. Investors will be listening for an update on timing Thursday.
NBA expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle is also on the radar. New franchises could fetch up to $10 billion each, and Guggenheim estimates the Knicks could receive $450 million to $700 million in expansion proceeds, worth $13 to $20 per share.
Despite all the upside catalysts, $MSGS doesn’t generate much profit. The company earned just $19 million in the first nine months of its fiscal year. Sports franchises are trophy assets, and the financials often reflect that.
The biggest overhang remains the Dolan family’s control. CEO James Dolan has shown no interest in selling either the Knicks or the Rangers, and the family holds supervoting stock that makes any outside move difficult.
Analysts put total asset value of the company at $13 billion to $14 billion, well above the current $10 billion market cap.
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