Rangers Sale Still a Possibility

Slap Shot (The NY Times Blog) is noting that with Cablevision set to announce its second quarter earnings tomorrow, there is a possibility the company will have to field questions about a potential spin-off of the Madison Square Garden unit (including the Garden, Knicks, Rangers, Liberty, and others). Any talk currently is still pure speculation, but the Dolan’s preference is probably to hold on to the unit and spin off Cablevision itself:

There are forces inside Cablevision that have actively sought a breakup of the company with the Garden unit spun off, but they have yet to convince the Dolan family, who still have controlling interest in Cablevision and an emotional stake in the Garden that this is the way to go. If forced to, it seems the Dolans would prefer to just take the Garden unit away from Cablevision and continue their control of it on their own.

There are two ways to look at this. With the $550 million sale of the Canadiens in the middle of a recession, the MSG unit can probably fetch about at least double, and probably triple, because it includes the Knicks (trying to refrain from jokes….), the MSG Networks themselves, Radio City, and other theaters. The Dolan’s could be lured by that figure and spin the unit off.

The other way to look at it is from the quote above, which could either be the best news or the worst news. Are the Dolans’ the best owners in the world? No, definitely not, not even close. They don’t monitor their upper level front office, thus making some GMs’, that shall remain nameless, jobs more secure than they really should have been. That’s not necessarily the calling card of a bad owner, just a negligent one.

But I will tell you this, they are always willing to spend money to make their teams successful. Spending it in the right way is a totally different story, and has nothing to do with the Dolans. Will any new owner be willing to spend right up to the cap every year to improve the team? Considering it’s New York, you have to assume yes, but you never know. Ranger fans calling for the Dolans’ to sell could get exactly what they wish for, and regret it for years to come.

When it comes to the Dolans, and the possibility of new owners, sometimes the evil you know is better than the evil you don’t.