The New York Rangers won a clutch game 7 against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night to advance past the first-round of the playoffs. So why should you care, assuming you’re not a hockey fan?
For one thing, it could be good news for Madison Square Garden (MSG) stock, which has already had a nice run this year.
The stock is up 26% in 2012, and has often shown strength when news is good for the teams it owns: Jeremy Lin’s star turn on the Knicks helped push stock 12% higher in just two weeks, Barron’s pointed out in a story. As the Knicks get ready to play the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs this weekend, BusinessWeek published a story noting that the team was one of only 8 profitable teams in the NBA in 2010-2011.
The farther the teams go in the playoffs, the more they could benefit the company’s bottom line, as fans ?buy tickets and viewers tune in to watch.
Of course, the teams and MSG channel don’t account for all of MSG’s revenue, and success on the court and ice doesn’t guarantee that the stock will rise. In addition, fundamentals still matter. MSG shares are trading at about 27 times estimated 2013 EPS — a championship multiple indeed.
