The Big Idea

Knicks' Playoff Charge: A Slam Dunk for NYC's Economy

The roar of the crowd at Madison Square Garden, the sea of orange and blue in the streets, the packed sports bars; the New York Knicks' recent playoff run was a thrilling ride for fans. But beyond the on-court drama, this extended postseason campaign has translated into a substantial economic windfall for New York City, underscoring the potent financial power of a beloved team making a deep charge.

The Big Apple's Playoff Payday

According to an announcement by New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) in late May 2025, the Knicks' entire 2025 playoff journey had the potential to inject a staggering $832 million into the city's economy, assuming they played all possible home games through the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals. While they didn’t reach the finals, the economic impact remains staggering.

Even before the later rounds, though, the impact was palpable. The initial home playoff games played by the Knicks in 2025 had already generated an estimated $195 million in economic activity. Each subsequent home game during the Eastern Conference Finals was projected to add another $91 million to that tally. This impressive figure accounts for a wide array of spending:

• Direct Impacts: Ticket sales, concessions, merchandise, transportation for fans, and lodging for out-of-town visitors.

• Indirect and Induced Impacts: Additional spending by stadium companies and their employees, which then ripples through the local economy.

For Madison Square Garden Sports Corp., the parent company of the Knicks (and the NHL's Rangers), playoff success directly translates to a healthier bottom line. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, the company reported a $71.8 million increase in playoff-related revenue compared to the previous year. This boost was attributed to the Knicks and Rangers playing a combined seven more home playoff games, averaging out to over $10.2 million in revenue per additional playoff game for MSG Sports Corp. itself. (How NBA Playoffs Impact New York Knicks’ Revenue)

How Does This Compare in NYC?

While the Knicks' per-game playoff impact is substantial, it's interesting to see how it stacks up against other major league postseasons in the city. For instance, during the 2024 MLB playoffs, New York Yankees home games were estimated to generate an economic impact of $25 million per game, while New York Mets home games brought in around $20.1 million per game (AMNY). These figures also consider ticket sales, significant visitor spending (with over 27,000 out-of-NYC visitors per MLB playoff game), and earnings for seasonal park employees. While direct comparisons can be complex due to differing ticket prices, stadium capacities, and fan spending habits, it's clear that any major New York team's postseason run is a significant financial boon.

Playoff Windfalls Beyond the Garden

New York isn't the only city cashing in on playoff fever. Extended runs by NBA and NHL teams consistently provide economic boosts to their home regions:

NBA Success Stories:

• When the Denver Nuggets made their championship run in the 2023 NBA Finals, the city of Denver anticipated a direct economic impact of up to $25 million, with a total potential impact reaching as high as $100 million when indirect spending was factored in (Yahoo Finance).

• More recently, Indianapolis was projected to see an economic benefit of $20-$25 million from hosting NBA Finals games. General estimates suggest NBA Finals games can generate around $6 million in average visitor spending alone.

NHL's Icy Injections:

• The Edmonton Oilers' journey through the first three rounds of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs was a massive win for the Alberta capital, injecting an estimated $179 million into the local economy. This included revenue from approximately 60,000 overnight hotel stays (Edmonton Journal). Beyond the direct dollars, the global media exposure for Edmonton was described as "priceless."

• The Florida Panthers' successful playoff runs over the past two seasons have reportedly contributed at least $110 million to Fort Lauderdale's economy. Their recent Stanley Cup Final appearance alone was projected to generate an additional $20 million to $30 million for the city, primarily through hotel occupancy and restaurant spending (SFBW).

• Data from Moneris has also shown significant spending surges in Canadian cities during NHL playoff games, with Edmonton seeing a 15% citywide spending increase during just one opening game.

More Than Just a Game

The economic benefits of a deep playoff run are multifaceted. Increased tourism floods cities with visitors eager to spend on accommodation, dining, and entertainment. Local businesses, from sports bars to retail outlets, experience a surge in activity. The heightened media attention also serves as invaluable marketing for the host city, enhancing its image and potentially attracting future tourism and investment. Moreover, these events often lead to increased employment in the hospitality and service sectors.

The New York Knicks' 2025 playoff run is a prime example of this phenomenon. While the championship trophy is the ultimate goal on the court, the economic victories tallied along the way provide a significant and welcome boost to the city's coffers, proving that in the world of big-time sports, a winning team is a powerful economic engine.

Nerding Out

The Value of Being a Team Player

Team sports are often cited as building character and values. In the US, they also build better financial returns for the athletes who make it to the college and professional levels.

Getting Paid

If you were an athlete of such tremendous talent that you had your choice of which professional sport to play, your best financial choice would be a team sport. To illustrate, let’s take a look at tennis and basketball. Tennis has more global fans than basketball, with rough estimates ballparking tennis with an astounding 1 billion fans. Yet, as of 2024, there are over 500 players in the NBA, and the 2024-2025 minimum contract is $1,157,153. That same year in tennis? Only 71 players on the ATP circuit earned more than $1 million.

Even that might be an optimistic comparison. Individual athletes have to pay for their own travel, coaching, conditioning, and medical expenses, all while those aspects of an athlete’s life are either paid for or highly subsidized by the teams of soccer, basketball, etc. The ATP and PGA represent the top tier of their respective sports, but players near the bottom of the rankings may lose money playing on their tours. The ATP is trying to address this disparity under a pilot financial program called Baseline that guarantees a minimum annual income for players ranked in the top 250. But it only paid out $1.3 million to a total of 26 players in 2024.

The financial advantage of team sports trickles down to the college level. The lion’s share of NIL payments goes to the athletes who generate the most revenue for the schools, which are men’s football and basketball. The one notable set of athletes for whom teams don’t provide the biggest payouts is women. Of the top 15 highest-paid female athletes in 2024, 14 were from individual sports. This may be attributed to the relative recency of professional women’s team sports leagues, and it will be interesting to see what happens as women’s leagues and their fans further develop.

Creating Jobs

Sports built around teams also offer more opportunities for job creation beyond the sidelines. There are fewer management roles for individual sports. It makes sense for leagues and teams to invest in roles dedicated to things like team operations, venue management, player and business analytics, and marketing. Part of that is because individual sports put more of the operational onus on the players, so there’s less to do than in the leagues. But a simpler reason is that bigger businesses generally spend more to keep those businesses moving. The NFL brought in close to $20 billion in revenue in 2024. That supports a lot more jobs than the estimated $2 billion the PGA Tour brought in.

Calling My Agent

The different financial streams have implications for agents as well. Generally speaking, agencies representing US athletes can make more money from major team sports than from individual sports. This is true because of the higher average contract values, the greater number of players, and the wider media exposure that creates more opportunities for endorsement deals. It also changes where agents can bring the most value. For many team athletes, the largest source of their income is their salary, and agents can negotiate complicated non-standard contract terms to win them higher payouts. Non-negotiable tournament winnings determine the playing income of most individual athletes, so agents' largest source of added value is in negotiating appearance fees, endorsements, sponsorships, and other sources of non-playing income.

Attracting Investors

Teams are also far more investor-friendly. Individual sports are difficult to invest in. Outside investors don’t buy and sell shares in the NFL, they buy and sell teams. Even in college football, close to half of the bowl games are owned by for-profit companies. Investors can’t buy players in golf or tennis, and most tournaments are owned by the PGA Tour or ATP, respectively. There’s no clear investment vehicle for individual sports. While LIV Golf touted their team format as a fan-based innovation, the stronger motivation was to create teams for investors to buy and to generate future franchise fees for LIV. Pickleball is making a similar effort, as both the PPA and MLP eschewed the tennis model and based their leagues on teams. A business model that attracts outside investment helps drive the financial engine of future growth. 

From almost every angle, it really pays to be a team player.

By The Numbers

Numbers That Jumped Off the Page

10%- Baseball is apparently America's favorite pastime again, at least on TV! MLB's national ratings are knocking it out of the park, with Fox boasting a 10% viewership increase and ESPN hitting its best baseball audience numbers since 2017. Can they keep driving these numbers home for the rest of the season?

$30- Premier League clubs have unanimously agreed to keep the £30 price cap on away tickets for a remarkable 10th season. In an evolving ticket pricing landscape, the EPL seems determined to tip the scales in favor of the fan’s wallet. Check out last week’s article, Pricing Risk: Harvest vs. Seed, for a deeper dive on the rising ticket prices in sports.

$182.12 Billion- According to a new study by The Research Insights, the global sports betting market is on a rocket ship to over $182 billion by 2030! Thanks to easier online access, more countries and states giving it the green light, and slick new tech, everyone's getting in on the action. Anyone want to bet the over/under?

Pulse Check

Last week, we asked BTS readers, “Which league has the best or most forward-thinking media strategy?” Here’s what they thought.

The Highlight Reel

Catch up on our most-read articles from previous weeks

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