One of the main storylines this NBA season has been the revival of the New York Knicks. For the first time since 2013, the Knickerbockers will be heading to the National Basketball Association’s postseason. Nothing is officially sewn up yet, but currently they project as the 4th seed, which would be the final homecourt advantage slot.
With the expanded playoff format this season, where the ninth and tenth place teams will participate in a play-in mini tournament for the 7th and 8th seeds, the Knicks just cannot blow this. Much maligned they have been in recent years, and deservedly so, this is finally their year.
Find out which way BetQL’s model is picking for tomorrow’s NBA games. The Knicks will visit the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday night, in a match-up of 38-30 teams. While that record is a huge step up from where NYY have been lately, it’s a step down, obviously, from where the Lakers have been.
While the on-the-court news has been pretty good for the Knicks, the off-the-court is even better, as they’re ranked the third most valuable sporting franchise in the entire world. Just before the weekend, Forbes dropped their annual list of the top 50, which covered from four sports. As you might expect, the NFL led the way with 26, followed by basketball (9), football/soccer/futbol (9) and baseball (6).
The Knicks were the most valuable basketball team on the planet, and one of three New Yorker teams in the top ten. Capital of the world indeed! Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do.
10 Most Valuable Sports Franchises in the World, via Forbes:
1. Dallas Cowboys (NFL) $5.7bn
2. New York Yankees (MLB) $5.25bn
3. New York Knicks (NBA) $5bn
4. Barcelona (Football) $4.76bn
5. Real Madrid (Football) $4.75bn
6. Golden State Warriors (NBA) $4.7bn
7. Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) $4.6bn
8. New England Patriots (NFL) $4.4bn
9. New York Giants (NFL) $4.3bn
10. Bayern Munich (Football) $4.21bn
Madison Square Garden Sports purchased the club, in 1997, for $300 million. They’ve the valuation of their investment rise like cryptocurrency. In five years, the Knicks have seen the value of the club rise 67%. And in seven years, the valuation has tripled.
When Forbes released their franchise value rankings for the NBA back in 2014, Spike Lee’s favorite team led the way at $1.4 billion topping the Lakers by $50 million. The Knicks were also valued at 40% more than the third-place Chicago Bulls ($1 billion), and almost twice as much as their crosstown rivals, the Brooklyn Nets, who were valued at $780 million.
As you can see, financial success has always been there in recent times for the Knicks. The same cannot be said from a wins and losses perspective. They haven’t won their division since 2013, the conference since 1999 and a championship since 1973.
It’s really astounding how a team this high profile, playing in Gotham no less, and with this much money and endless revenue streams has been this bad for this long.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.