By Andrew Bary
This article is an excerpt from "Amazon and 9 More Stocks to Buy for 2026," published on Dec. 12, 2025. To see the full list, click here.
Sports investing is hotter than ever, with record prices being paid for professional teams. Not so Madison Square Garden Sports, the owner of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.
The combined value of the Knicks and Rangers is probably over $13 billion. The NBA's Los Angeles Lakers were sold in 2025 at a valuation of $10 billion, and the Knicks are probably worth at least that. The Rangers' estimated value is more than $3 billion. MSG Sports, whose shares trade around $225, is valued at $5.4 billion. The stock is up 30% over the past five years, well behind the market and the increase in private team values.
The stock trades cheaply because CEO James Dolan has ruled out a sale of the company, which is controlled by his family. His attitude is bad corporate governance, but Jon Boyar, president of the Boyar Value Group, says it could spin off one of the teams into a separate company, or sell a partial stake in one or both of the teams to private investors and use the proceeds to repurchase stock. A tax-law change in 2027 will penalize owners of public sports teams, which could pressure the company to consider a sale.
"MSGS is one of the best risk/reward setups in the market today," says Boyar, who values the company at nearly $500 a share.
Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 31, 2025 01:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
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