The NBA just did something leagues almost never do: side against one of its own owners, in his own market, during the Finals.
Live broadcast rights are the most protected asset in sports. Disney and friends paid $76B in the latest media deal partly for moments exactly like this. Bars need licenses just to show games. Yet within hours of James Dolan pulling the plug on the watch party outside his own arena, the league cleared New York City to stream Game 4 free on public street furniture.
Dolan's stated reason for canceling: a 999-person cap was an insult when "we're about millions of people."
So the city took him literally. LinkNYC runs roughly 2,000 kiosks across the five boroughs, built on the corpse of the old payphone franchise. Dolan controls the Garden. The city controls every sidewalk around it.
One detail makes the whole thing sting. MSG requested the 999-person permit itself, then canceled when it was approved.
Owners win these standoffs when they own the only screen in town. Dolan just found out the city has two thousand of them.
When James Dolan cancels the watch party outside MSG, we bring the watch party to you.
Thanks to the
@NBA, Knicks Game 4 is now playing on dozens of
@LinkNYC screens across our city.
LGK.