Madison Square Garden Co. Class A Aktie

Good morning. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. Fiscal 2026 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

I would now like to turn the call over to Ari Danes, Investor Relations. Ari, please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to MSG Sports Fiscal 2026 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Earnings Conference Call. Our Chief Operating Officer, Jamaal Lesane, will begin this morning's call with a discussion on the company's strategy and operations as well as an update on the company's proposed spin-off of its Rangers business. This will be followed by a review of our financial results with Paul DiCicco, our EVP, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. After our prepared remarks, we will open up the call for questions. If you do not have a copy of today's earnings release, it is available in the Investors section of our corporate website.

Please take note of the following. Today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Please refer to the company's filings with the SEC for a discussion of risks and uncertainties. The company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements that may be discussed during this call. On Pages 4 and 5 of today's earnings release, we provide consolidated statements of operations and a reconciliation of operating income to adjusted operating income, or AOI, a non-GAAP financial measure.

And with that, I'll now turn the call over to Jamaal.

Thank you, Ari, and good morning, everyone. I am pleased to be here with you all today following a fiscal year that culminated with the Knicks winning an NBA championship. Before I dive further into the Knicks season, I would like to take a moment to discuss an important plan that we announced since we last spoke in February, potential spin-off of our Rangers business from our Knicks business. This transaction would create 2 distinct publicly traded companies, enabling shareholders to more clearly evaluate each company's assets and growth prospects. It would also provide both with enhanced strategic and financial flexibility.

In May, we confidentially filed a Form 10 registration statement with the SEC regarding the proposed spin-off. We anticipate publicly filing an updated Form 10 registration statement this week and currently expect to complete the spin-off by the end of October, subject to various conditions, including Board approval. We will continue to keep you updated on our progress.

Now let's discuss our operations in more detail. For fiscal '26, MSG Sports generated full year revenues of approximately $1.2 billion and adjusted operating income of nearly $59 million. These results reflect robust consumer and corporate demand throughout the regular season and, of course, the impact of the Knicks Championship run. The Knicks' playoff run took over New York City from electric crowds in-arena for home games to watch parties at various locations throughout the city to unique activations from our marketing partners, all culminating with the championship parade attended by millions of fans. With this unprecedented momentum, we achieved a number of operational milestones during the postseason.

To share a few highlights, on the ticketing front, the Knicks set new league-wide records with the highest per game gate revenues in NBA history on multiple occasions during the playoffs. With respect to merchandise, within the first 24 hours of clinching the NBA title, the Knicks generated its highest ever single day of merchandise sales with this robust demand continuing in the weeks that have followed. And we added over 2.2 million net new social media followers this past year, bringing the Knicks and Rangers combined following to nearly 22 million by the end of June. And this interest wasn't just limited to New York. Nationwide, the championship series became the most-watched NBA finals in 28 years. While fan enthusiasm reached new highs during the playoffs, the demand for both the Knicks and Rangers was evident throughout the regular seasons, which we expect to carry forward in fiscal '27.

In terms of ticketing, we saw higher per game revenue year-over-year during the 2025-'26 regular seasons. Looking ahead to the upcoming season, we are off to a strong start with season ticket renewals, and we expect our combined season ticket renewal rate to once again reach levels above 90%. I would note that consistent with our past practice, we made the decision to not raise season ticket prices for the Rangers as the team did not qualify for the playoffs, but we did raise season ticket prices for the Knicks. This past fiscal year, we also celebrated the Rangers Centennial season, which will culminate with the Rangers' 100th anniversary Capstone Game at The Garden in November against the Montreal Canadians. That game will also mark the 100th anniversary of the date of the Rangers first-ever game also against the Montreal franchise.

In addition, we continued unique merchandise collaborations with brands such as Kith and New York or Nowhere for both the Knicks and Rangers. These initiatives helped drive robust year-over-year growth in merchandise per cap spending at the arena for fiscal '26 as compared to the prior year. We also saw fan enthusiasm throughout the fiscal year translate into higher food and beverage per cap spending year-over-year at the arena. In terms of marketing partnerships, fiscal '26 was highlighted by a number of significant new sales and renewals. We signed new multiyear partnerships with PwC and Polymarket and reached multiyear renewals with Lexus, Anheuser-Busch and Infosys. And in our premium hospitality business, we also saw strong new sales and renewal activity for suites at The Garden, which included a number of Lexus level suites that were renovated at the start of the fiscal year.

Building on this successful initiative, several more suites are in the process of being renovated, which we expect to drive incremental revenue for our business in fiscal '27. As we look ahead to the upcoming seasons, the Rangers have had a productive summer, including acquiring forward Pavel Dorofeyev and defensemen Marcus Petterson and Sean Durzi. We look forward to the Rangers 2026-'27 regular season campaign getting underway this fall. And the Knicks will begin with the special banner raising celebration in October to tip off the season as defending champions.

So in summary, we are proud to have seen the Knicks deliver this year's championship for our fans, partners, employees and shareholders. And as we pursue a spin-off of our Rangers business, we remain confident in our ability to drive long-term shareholder value. I'd now like to introduce Paul DiCicco, our new EVP, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Paul is a seasoned executive with 30 years of experience in a range of global finance roles. His proven track record of strategic financial leadership is an asset to our company, and we are pleased to have him on board.

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Paul.

Thank you, Jamaal, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to join you here today in my new role at MSG Sports during such an exciting time for the company.

For fiscal '26, we generated total revenues of $1.15 billion and adjusted operating income of $58.7 million. Results for the fiscal fourth quarter reflect the same number of regular season and playoff home games as compared to the prior year period. That includes the completion of the '25/'26 regular season, followed by the Knicks playoff run to the finals, which compared to reaching the Eastern conference finals in fiscal '25. For the fiscal '26 fourth quarter, total revenues were $278.7 million as compared to $204 million in the prior year period. Event-related revenues of $200.7 million, which mainly consists of ticket, food, beverage and merchandise revenues, inclusive of playoffs, increased 43% year-over-year. Suites, sponsorship and signage revenues, also inclusive of the playoffs, were $39.1 million, an increase of 23% year-over-year. National and local media rights fees of $27.7 million were essentially unchanged year-over-year. This primarily reflected our amended local telecast rights agreement with MSG Networks as well as a decrease in the number of games exclusively available to MSG Networks during the current year as compared to the prior year.

These decreases were offset by higher national media rights fees due to the NBA's new national media rights deals. Adjusted operating income was $39.6 million as compared to adjusted operating loss of $16.8 million in the prior year quarter, which reflected the increases in revenues, partially offset by higher SG&A and direct operating expenses. The increase in costs primarily reflects higher playoff-related expenses. I would note that SG&A also reflects, to a lesser extent, $2.9 million in expenses related to the proposed spin-off transaction. This overall increase in cost was partially offset by a decrease in net provisions for certain team personnel transactions recognized in the prior year quarter.

As we look ahead, we believe our business is poised to deliver revenue growth across all [ intermediate ] categories in fiscal '27. In addition, we expect our results to also reflect our continued investment in our teams as well as higher revenue sharing expense. I'd also add the NHL's new collective bargaining agreement takes effect in the 2026, '27 season. As a result, we will have one more regular season home game and one fewer preseason home game for the Rangers in fiscal '27.

Turning to our balance sheet. At the end of the quarter, our cash balance was approximately $164.5 million, and our debt balance was $258.5 million. This was comprised of $242 million under the Knicks senior secured revolving credit facility and $16.5 million advanced from the NHL. So in summary, we remain pleased with the demand we are seeing for our teams as we also pursue the potential separation of our businesses, which we are confident will position us well to drive long-term value for our shareholders.

I will now turn the call back over to Ari.

Operator, can we now open up the call for questions?

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of David Karnovsky with JPMorgan.

I would be the first to say congrats on the Knicks championship. So regarding the New York Rangers spin-off, can you speak a bit more to the rationale here? And should investors read this as a willingness to sell minority stakes in the teams? And then relatedly, with the pending tax law change, why enter the spin if it now creates a tax challenge across 2 public companies?

David, thank you for those congratulations. With respect to your first question, we believe that our proposed spin-off, as I mentioned earlier, would enable shareholders to more clearly evaluate each company's assets and growth prospects. As it relates to a minority stake sale or the potential for minority stake in either team, our position hasn't changed from what we've articulated on previous calls. We continue to be confident in the value of our teams. We're as confident as ever in that respect. And there continue to be reported transactions in the marketplace that demonstrate that value and scarcity of these assets. And so as I said before, we would never rule out the possibility of a minority stake sale, but we don't have anything further to report at this time in that regard. The takeaway here, David, is that this transaction will provide both companies with enhanced strategic and financial flexibility.

I'll take the second part of your question. As we discussed earlier just now, we believe the proposed spin will create long-term value for our shareholders. And we're certainly mindful of the implications that the tax laws would have at each company after the separation. But that being said, as Jamaal just said, the proposed spin-off does create -- provides both companies with strategic and financial flexibility, such as enhancing each company's ability to access funding for liquidity, particularly as we take into account the implications for our business from these tax law changes.

Your next question comes from the line of Cameron Mansson-Perrone with Morgan Stanley.

Two, if I could. First, on local media rights, there's a range of evolving approaches across leagues and teams right now between traditional RSN distribution, full DTC as we're seeing with the Braves, leagues trying to centrally manage and package rights. Jamaal, what's your latest thinking about those various options and what makes sense from your perspective for the MSGS teams over time? And are there any league-specific factors we should consider that might make the approach different for the Knicks relative to the Rangers? Or are you thinking about both teams and local rights in a similar -- or from a similar lens? And then I have a follow-up.

Sure. Thanks for that, Cameron, and great to meet you. As you mentioned, there's a lot going on. But with respect to the Knicks and the Rangers local distribution, we have a great partner in MSG Networks. And our agreements with them run through the '28, '29 seasons. And one of the things that makes them a great partner is that they help us stay connected with our local fans, which is of paramount importance to us.

We're also supportive of what they've been doing on the distribution front, including their new partnership with DAZN, which is a premier streaming platform. And with that, we're not going to speculate on league plans. We believe in the value of local media coverage. We believe in the value of content that's tailored for local markets. And as such, we remain confident in our position as a rights holder for these 2 marquee sports franchises.

Great. I appreciate that. Follow-up was just on the question about the future potential tax obligations. Any help quantifying that incremental tax impact for each team when those changes take effect, I guess, assuming current payrolls remain unchanged at each team?

Sure, Cameron. I'll take that one. It's nice to meet you as well. We continue to assess the impact of these tax law changes on our business. But just a quick reminder, these become effective for our fiscal year-end June 30, 2028. So with that in mind, excluding the impact of the proposed spin-off, we currently estimate these changes result in approximately $16 million in additional income tax expense for that fiscal year, that's fiscal year '28. If the proposed spin-off is completed, the combined income tax expense across the 2 companies will certainly be higher. I do think it's important to note, though, as you kind of alluded to, the final impact will largely depend on the team at that point in time.

Your next question comes from the line of David Joyce with Seaport Research Partners.

Well, that was an exciting quarter. Can you help us understand some more of the financial impacts on the revenues, expenses and AOI from that championship run? And subsequent to the win, there was talk about not encroaching the next apron. So could you please also give us some operating expense outlook for the next fiscal year, including on the player comp?

Sure, David. I'll take those questions and work through those for you. The championship run resulted in a significant incremental business for our company as evidenced in our results today.

To give a little bit more context, I'll touch on a few areas, and I'll start with tickets. Playoff tickets are priced at a premium to the regular season games with increases each round. As Jamaal noted earlier, the Knicks set new NBA records for the per game gate revenues. Our per cap spending on F&B and merchandise during the playoffs is typically higher than regular season averages, but we noted it was a notable acceleration during the championship series. Now what was interesting is we hosted 9 playoff games in this past quarter at The Garden, which is the same number of games as the prior year when the Knicks advanced to the Eastern conference files. And just to compare those results, related playoff revenues for the year's fourth quarter were $182 million as compared to $115.2 million in the prior year period. That's roughly $20.2 million in average per game revenues, including the benefits of robust nongame day merchandise sales.

On the flip side, right, there are additional costs in connection with being in the playoffs. We saw approximately $11 million, $1.2 million on average per game related to direct operating expense as well as marketing and administrative costs. One quick point I want to make. I won't get into all the specifics, but I note that last quarter, there were increased expenses for playoffs associated with making the finals and winning the championship. Just to close out on the thread of where we think about that goes, we expect the increased enthusiasm from our fans and partners to create tailwinds across every aspect of our business for fiscal '27, like tickets, sponsorship, suites, as well as food and beverage and merchandise sales.

The focus on the second part of your question really around operating expenses, I'm not going to provide specific guidance. But I will -- we do expect our results for '27 to reflect higher team compensation and luxury tax. As you know, the NBA salary cap increased $10.4 million for the '26, '27 season, while the NHL cap increased $8.5 million. And in addition to that, the NBA luxury tax threshold for '26, '27 season increased $12.5 million to approximately $200 million to $244 million. It's important reminder that this is measured based on the roster at the end of the season. The other area I mentioned earlier, we also anticipate increased revenue share expense in fiscal '27, really twofold really. One is this reflects our current expectations for ongoing revenue growth, excluding the impact of playoffs. In addition will be due to the impact of the new NHL CBA that goes into effect for the upcoming season. That new CBA slightly changed the calculation for rev share and is expected to result in higher revenue sharing expense for the Rangers.

Your next question comes from the line of Joe Stauff with Susquehanna.

I just wanted to maybe follow up on David's previous question, a little bit more detail. Can I ask on the sponsorship outlook this coming season, what it looks like, especially considering the Knicks win and what that does for you in terms of both pricing and any added inventory and how we think about that number in particular for fiscal '27?

Thanks, Joe. Actually, I'm glad you touched on that. And just looking at back just a little bit, we saw overwhelming demand from our partners during the championship run. And that included not just the obvious presence in our arenas for those exhilarating home games, but it also included the opportunity for them to activate at our viewing parties around the city. And then even on the road, where we hosted a number of partners in Cleveland for the Eastern Conference Finals and in San Antonio for the NBA Finals, all culminating with giving many of our partners a presence during the championship parade celebration.

And so all of that had 2 effects. One, that valuable time spent enhances our relationship with our partners, and it improves the value proposition moving forward. And then two, we saw sponsorship revenues more than double year-over-year during the post season. And so looking ahead, not only do we expect to see the run rate benefit from our fiscal year -- fiscal '26 deals in the year ahead, but the Knicks win should actually enable us to sell more sponsorships. So in short, Joe, while we're not providing specific guidance, as we look to fiscal '27, we're seeing great momentum and believe that we are well positioned to drive another year of growth.

Thanks for the question, Joe. Operator, we'll take one final caller.

Your last question comes from the line of Tyler DiMatteo with BTIG.

I have 2 here. I wanted to start on the NHL side of things. I guess how should we think about the new Rogers deal kicking in this season and the potential financial impact on that? And then along with that, I guess, do you have any early thoughts on the potential new U.S. NHL deal and the renewal of it following the existing deal that concludes next year?

Thanks, Tyler. I'll take that one. Tyler, to answer the first part of your question, the NHL begins a new 12-year media rights agreement with Rogers Communications this upcoming season. And they, the NHL, will see a step-up in average annual value for its Canadian media rights with annual escalators thereafter. And so we'll see an increase in our share of those media rights -- those media rights fees. And kind of to piggyback into the second part of your question, in terms of the NHL U.S. deals, the current agreements run through the '27, '28 season. And we continue to believe in the value of live professional sports content. We expect the NHL will maximize that opportunity.

Okay. Great. And then secondarily, I guess, do you have any early thoughts or how do you think about the potential financial impact of domestic expansion for the NBA or NHL? And I guess what that could mean for your business and the contribution?

Yes. I won't comment on the NBA, NHL strategy and whether that occurs or not. But I will -- if an expansion does occur, as it has in the past, if expansion were to occur, any potential expansion fees in the NBA would be divided equally among the 30 existing NBA teams and vice versa, any potential expansion fees in the NHL would be divided among the existing 32 NHL teams. From a league distribution perspective, including revenue from the national media rights agreements, those would be divided pro rata amongst the increased number of teams following any potential expansion.

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Ari for closing remarks.

Thank you all for joining us. We look forward to speaking with you on our next earnings call. Have a good day.

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.

Good morning. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Madison Square Garden Sports Corp Fiscal 2026 Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

I would now like to turn the call over to Ari Danes, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to MSG Sports Fiscal 2026 Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call. Our Chief Operating Officer, Jamaal Lesane, will begin this morning's call with an update on the company's strategy and operations. This will be followed by a review of our financial results with Victoria Mink, our EVP, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.

After our prepared remarks, we will open up the call for questions. If you do not have a copy of today's earnings release, it is available in the Investors section of our corporate website. Please take note of the following. Today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

Please refer to the company's filings with the SEC for a discussion of risks and uncertainties. The company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements that may be discussed during this call. On Pages 4 and 5 of today's earnings release, we provide consolidated statements of operations and a reconciliation of operating income to adjusted operating income, or AOI, a non-GAAP financial measure.

And with that, I'll now turn the call over to Jamaal.

Thank you, Ari, and good morning, everyone. For the fiscal '26 second quarter, MSG Sports generated revenues of approximately $403 million and adjusted operating income of approximately $30 million. These results reflect positive momentum in key operating areas with per game revenues across all in-game categories, including ticketing, suites, sponsorship and food beverage and merchandise up as compared to the fiscal '25 second quarter. These results also reflect higher national media rights fees as a result of the NBA's new national media deals the impact of our amended local media rights agreements with MSG Networks and our continued investment in our teams.

As we look ahead with the ongoing momentum we see across our business we remain well positioned to drive long-term value for our shareholders. Now let's discuss our operations in more detail. This year, fan enthusiasm for our teams continues to be evident in results across our business.

The Knicks and Rangers combined season ticket renewal rate this season was approximately 94%. In addition, we have been focused on optimizing pricing and mix of individual and group sales to maximize revenues for each game. As a result, we saw a year-over-year increase in per game ticketing revenue in the fiscal second quarter which also reflects the increase in mixed season ticket prices following the team's exciting playoff run last year.

This year, we've also been celebrating the Rangers Centennial season with multiple generations of fans and former Rangers players joining us at the Garden for a number of curated theme nights to highlight the history of our storied franchise. This celebration will culminate with the Rangers 100th anniversary Capstone game in November.

This special season has included 2 new additions to our merchandise collection, a Centennial Jersey that honors our 100 years of history and a separate jersey that commemorates our participation in the NHL's Annual Winter Classic as won by the players in that game. In addition, we have also introduced a number of other new merchandise offerings for both the mix and ranges this year.

We continue to partner with unique brands such as Kith and New York or Nowhere for exclusive retail offerings that have been resonating with fans. In fact, when the Knicks new Kith collection launched in November and the Ranger Centennial collection debuted at the Garden in October, single-game merchandise sales were amongst our highest in each team's history.

With the help of these efforts, we saw higher food, beverage and merchandise per cap spending during the quarter as compared to the prior year period. Enthusiasm for the Ranger Centennial season has also extended to our marketing partnerships business. In September, the company announced a significant multiyear agreement with Game 7 that included naming the multi-platform sports and entertainment brand, which was cofounded by Rangers great Mark Messier as the first-ever jersey patch partner of the Rangers.

M7 is now featured on our home, away and Centennial jerseys this year and was the presenting partner of one of the Ranger's recent Centennial season theme nights. Momentum in our marketing partnerships business has also been highlighted by a number of other announcements so far this fiscal year.

Over the last several months, we signed new multiyear partnerships with PwC and Polymarket and reach multiyear renewals with Anheuser Busch and Infosys. In terms of premium hospitality, we continue to see strong new sales and renewal activity for suites at the Garden.

In addition, we are seeing the benefit of incremental revenue this year from several Lexus level suites that were recently renovated. Our progress in these categories puts us on track for growth across both marketing partnerships and premium hospitality in fiscal '26.

Turning to media rights. As I mentioned earlier, the NBA's new national media deals with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon began this season, which is reflected in today's results. In addition, our results reflect the Knicks and Rangers amended local media rights agreements with MSG Networks. As a reminder, those amendments included 28% and 18% reduction in annual rights fees payable to the Knicks and Rangers respectively, which will effective January 1, 2025, along with an elimination of annual rights fee escalators.

Looking ahead, inning next week, we will be proud to watch a number of rangers compete in the 2026 Olympic Winter games for their home countries. And on the basketball side, the mix have been carrying on the momentum from last year's playoff run. As you know, in fiscal '25, team welcomed Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism as its New Jersey patch partner. Building on this relationship and global enthusiasm for the team, the Knicks visited Abu Dhabi for 2 preseason games in October.

In addition, the first several months of the season were capped off by the Knicks winning the league's third annual in-season competition, the MBA cup in December. Coming up, we are looking forward to watching Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns participate in the 2026 NBA All-Star game.

So in summary, our business with its strong underlying fundamentals continues to benefit from robust consumer and corporate demand, and we remain as confident as ever in the value of owning 2 iconic sports franchises.

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Victoria.

Thank you, Jamaal, and good morning, everyone. Results for the fiscal second quarter reflect pre-season play and the start of the '25, '26 regular seasons for the Knicks and Rangers. During this period, we hosted 39 pre and regular season games across both teams as compared to 35 games last year, which positively impacted our results for the quarter.

This timing benefit will reverse over the second half of the fiscal year. For the fiscal '26 second quarter, total revenues were $403.4 million as compared to $357.8 million in the prior year period, which reflected the impact of more home games at the Garden versus the prior year as well as increases across every key revenue category on a per game basis.

Event-related revenues of $167.2 million, which mainly consists of ticket, food, beverage and merchandise revenue increased 20% year-over-year, while suites and sponsorship revenues of $98.5 million increased 24% year-over-year. National and local media rights fees of $122.3 million decreased 4% year-over-year.

This primarily reflected the impact of our amended local media rights agreements with MSG Networks, which was partially offset by higher national media rights fees due to the NBA's new national media rights deals. Adjusted operating income increased $9.4 million to $29.7 million, primarily due to the increase in revenues, partially offset by higher direct operating expenses.

The increase in direct operating expenses primarily reflected higher team personnel compensation and corresponding luxury tax, higher revenue sharing expenses net of escrow as well as other cost increases. This was partially offset by the absence of net provisions for certain team personnel transactions recognized in the prior year quarter. I would also note that AOI for our fiscal '26 2nd quarter includes $9.9 million of noncash arena operating lease costs as compared to $9.3 million in the prior year period.

Turning to our balance sheet. In November, we refinanced the Knicks and Rangers senior secured revolving credit facilities. These refinancings improved our average borrowing rate and extended each facility's maturity for a new 5-year term ending in November 2030.

In addition, total capacity under the Knicks revolving credit facility was increased by $150 million to $425 million, with no change to borrowings outstanding. These refinancings demonstrate both the quality of our assets and the confidence in the long-term outlook for both our teams and leagues.

At the end of the quarter, our cash balance was approximately $81 million, and our debt balance was $291 million. This was comprised of $267 million under the Knicks senior secured revolving credit facility and $24 million advanced from the NHL.

So in summary, we remain confident in the trajectory of our business and our ability to drive long-term value for our shareholders.

I will now turn the call back over to Ari.

Thanks, Victoria. Operator, can we now open the call for questions?

[Operator Instructions]

Your first question comes from the line of David Karnovsky from JPMorgan.

Doug Wardlaw on for David. I just want to ask, given your current cash and debt balances, can you update us on how you're thinking about any potential capital returns? And -- so we think of this largely contingent on playoff runs for the teams?

Doug, thanks for the question. So we take all variables into account when thinking through and determining how we allocate capital.

Yes, with that said, our long-term capital allocation priorities, they remain the same. First, it's to maintain appropriate liquidity to fund our operations and invest in our core business. Second, we want to make sure we have a strong balance sheet. Now as of December 31, there were no changes to our outstanding borrowings, but as part of our recent refinancings, we've improved our rates including lowering commitment and borrowing rates for the Rangers and extended each facility's maturity for a new 5-year term.

In addition, we increased the borrowing capacity under the Knicks revolver by $150 million to $425 million in keeping with the NBA's recent increase to the debt limit for teams. So -- and we always consider opportunities that make strategic and financial sense and think these refinancings give us enhanced financial flexibility. And third, we plan to be opportunistic about other uses of our cash flow, I would not rule out a return of capital program in the future.

Your next question comes from the line of Steven Sheeckutz from Citi.

I was wondering if you could comment if a minority interest sale remains a potential option?

Thanks for the question. We don't have any news with respect to a minority interest sale. We are confident in the value of our teams we are cognizant of recent reported transactions in the marketplace. And those transactions serve as confirmation of our belief that these are scarce, valuable assets and we don't think that, that value is appropriately reflected in our current stock price.

So we would never rule out the possibility of a minority state sale. But as I said, we have nothing to report at this time.

Got it. That's helpful. And then just one more, if I may. I was wondering how you're thinking about the potential impact of the upcoming changes to the tax deductibility of compensation that's set to begin in 2027?

Sure. Steve. We continue to assess the impact of changes in tax regulations. But as a reminder, it becomes effective for our company, the year ended June 30, 2028. But at this time, we have -- we just have nothing further to share.

Your next question comes from the line of David Joyce from Seaport.

Could you please provide an updated outlook on the evolving RSN and local media rights landscape granted you've got a flat arrangement now with MSG Networks, but in some others, the sports -- some of those rights have been getting clawed back by the leagues. Just wondering what you're seeing and what your thoughts are on the landscape?

Yes. Look, as you referenced, the RSN industry clearly continues to evolve, and we are -- as I said a few moments ago, we're talking of what goes on in the marketplace. In that case, we continue to believe in the value of local media coverage. Especially when you consider in a large market like New York and the tri-state area, where our fans continuously look for unique content that is parallel to them.

And that, in turn, helps drive fan engagement. We do have -- we have a great partner in that respect and MSG Networks who helps us to deliver that tailored local content to our fans. As a reminder, and I mentioned this earlier, our amended agreements with MSG Networks run through the end of the 28, 29 seasons. And so we remain focused on maintaining that important connection we have with both MSG Networks and our local fans. And so yes, we'll continue to monitor the changes impacting the RSN industry. But we also remain confident in our position as a rights holder for 2 marquee sports franchises.

Your next question comes from the line of Peter Supino from Wolfe Research.

I wonder if you would talk about the Ranger. Obviously, we were all hoping for a better result on the ICE. And I wonder if you could share with us if that will possibly impact the financials going forward, whether from the post season, missing the playoffs, et cetera?

Sure. Thanks for the question. Let me take that in 2 parts. The second part, you mentioned the financials. Look, as you can see with our results today, our business remains strong. During the quarter, we saw growth in all in-game revenue categories on a per game basis. That includes ticketing, where we have passionate fan bases who continue to show up and cheering their teams. That includes sponsorship and premium hospitality where our results this year reflect the benefit of multiyear deals as well as strong renewal and new sales activity, and that includes strength in per cap spending at the Garden, where we have seen in merchandise sales days amongst the highest in each team's history so far this year.

Now with respect to the playoffs, there are 2 immediate markers in the play-off run. The first is, of course, the valuable incremental home games. And then the second is that we historically have not raised season ticket prices if one of our team doesn't make the playoff. And so we are, of course, monitoring the standings.

But as we stand here today, we are fully focused on making this a successful season as possible. And whether that's welcoming multiple generations of Rangers fans and alumni players to under 100 years of Rangers hockey as we do tonight or celebrating the Knick double over time win as we did last night. We are looking forward to continuing the celebrations for the rest of the season.

Thanks, Peter. We'll take one more caller.

Certainly, your final question comes from the line of Joe Stauff from Susquehanna.

Jamaal, I was wondering if you could provide an update maybe on the opportunities from here for sponsorship growth and further suite upgrades.

Sure. Happy to, Joe. We're seeing good momentum in both areas of the business. Starting with marketing partnerships, we've had a number of new deals and renewals so far this fiscal year, which include, as I mentioned earlier, the multiyear extensions with Anheuser-Busch and Infosys and new multiyear deals with PwC and Polymarket. And I can't say enough about our new partnership with Game 7, the multi-platform sports and entertainment brand that was co-founded by Rangers Great, Mark Messier. That Jersey patch inventory is premium inventory for us and to sell our first-ever jersey patch in a historic season to Game 7, just feels so synergistic for us. And it's been a thrill partnering with Mark and Isaac Sara and the rest of the Game 7 team in that regard.

And then in terms of premium hospitality, at the record year of revenue in fiscal '25, we continue to see robust demand from corporate partners. This has resulted in strong suite renewals and new sales and from that, we've capitalized on that momentum by renovating in partnership with MSG Entertainment, several Lexus level suite ahead of this '25, '26 season, and we are seeing the benefits of that renovation, those renovations this year.

And that, Joe, is in keeping with our goal of both improving the guest experience while also creating incremental revenue opportunities for our business.

So overall, we're seeing positive momentum, and we are currently on track for growth in both marketing partnerships and premium hospitality this fiscal year.

And that concludes our question-and-answer session. I will now turn the call back over to Ari Danes for closing remarks.

Thanks for joining us. We look forward to speaking with you all on our next earnings call. Have a good day.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.