Knicks and Rangers are now separate public companies as MSG split takes effect

New York's two Madison Square Garden teams now trade as separate stocks. Madison Square Garden Sports finished spinning off its hockey business at 11:59 p.m. Monday and changed its name to MSG Knickerbockers Corp., the company said in a statement Tuesday. Starting Tuesday, the Knicks company trades on the New York Stock Exchange as MSGK and the new MSG Rangers Corp. as MSGR.

What shareholders got

• Stockholders of record at the close of business on Oct. 20 received one MSG Rangers share for every two MSG Sports shares they held, in the same class (A or B).
• No action or payment was needed; the new shares show up as a brokerage credit or a book-entry statement.
• The company says the distribution is structured to be tax-free for federal income tax purposes, and it tells shareholders to check with tax advisers.

The board approved the distribution on Sept. 30, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which set the record date and the Oct. 26 distribution and made the deal subject to final approval from the National Hockey League.

Who owns what

MSG Rangers owns the New York Rangers, the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack and the MSG Training Center in Greenburgh, Westchester County. MSG Knickerbockers keeps the Knicks and their G League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, amNY reported.

MSG's stock rose 16% on the day the split was announced in late September, amNY reported. Citing Sportico, the outlet said the change also affects taxes for both teams: starting next year, each team's deduction for pay to its five highest-paid players will be capped at $1 million.

The split could also make it easier for MSG chief executive James Dolan to sell one team without the other, or for minority investors to buy into just one, amNY noted, though it said Dolan is not believed to be considering a sale.