Report: Knicks TV Network Paving Way For Merger With Nets' Station

The New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets flagship television stations could soon work under the same umbrella.

Jan 21, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton (33) box out for a rebound in the fourth quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

According to a report from Josh Kosman and Brian Lewis of the New York Post, the flagship television homes of the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets may be close to saying "YES" to another collaboration.

Per The Post, MSG Network "announced a deal with its lender JPMorgan that allows the regional sports channel to avoid bankruptcy — and potentially pave the way for a merger with the YES Network."

In this new deal, MSG Network will reduce right fees to carry both the Knicks and NHL's New York Rangers. The network is currently under contract to carry Knicks games through the 2028-29 season. In addition to the Madison Square Garden dwellers, MSG also airs New Jersey Devils/New York Islanders/New York Sirens hockey (as well as the Buffalo Sabres in Western New York) and Gotham FC soccer.

With the MSG's debt to JPMorgan cut down by nearly three-quarters, a potential buyer like YES is more likely to step in. YES, which airs Nets basketball and New York Yankees baseball, is primarily owned by Yankee Global Enterprises. The two sides are already collaborating on the Gotham Sports App, an over-the-top app that allows fans to subscribe to both MSG and YES in one place

MSG has been the primary television home of the Knicks since the network's formation in 1969. It was well-known for its long-running broadcasting pairing of Mike Breen and Walt "Clyde" Frazier on Knicks broadcasts.

This ongoing first round set against the Detroit Pistons will be the last Knicks postseason series that MSG broadcasts, as the opening stanza of the playoff will become exclusive to national television partners under the new media deal set to tip off next season. Both Breen and Knicks owner James Dolan have been critical of such developments.

“I think it was a bad decision from the league," Breen told Neil Best of Newsday earlier this week. "You can’t blame the rights holders, because they’re paying all this money. But the league should have said, you know what, we’re going to hold onto that first round. I was really disappointed that they didn’t hold onto the first round, because it means something to the fans.”

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