Madison Square Garden has released a statement denying claims by Bill Simmons of The Ringer suggesting New York Knicks owner James Dolan was “courting offers” to sell the team in a recent podcast, according to Steve Popper of Newsday.
“The story is 100 percent false. There has been nothing. No discussions. No plans to have discussions — nothing.”
It's worthy to note that the MSG Networks are owned by Dolan himself, which would make this a personal statement through his very own network.
Simmons alluded to Dolan's outside interests like music and the in-game experience playing a bigger role as satisfying factors, rather than owning the Knicks.
A recent interview with ESPN's Ian O'Connor back in December suggested he wouldn't rule out selling the Knicks if the right offer came along.
Dolan recently sold the WNBA's New York Liberty and he's now approaching his 20th year as owner of the franchise, one that has been largely unsuccessful in terms of competition, but a boon in the pocket, ranking as the most-valuable franchise at a whopping $4 billion. Dolan took over Madison Square Garden in 1999 as part of his stake as the chairman and CEO of MSG.
Simmons also said Dolan would be looking to sell the team for a “crazy price” — and given his recent sale of the Liberty, it wouldn't be surprising if he's looking to get out of the sports business altogether to do what he wants. Dolan and MSG also own the NHL's New York Rangers.
Dolan is 63 years old and has enough ties to other business ventures to keep him afloat, even without the Knicks.
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