The New York Knicks topped expectations last season with their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years. It was a banner year for owner James Dolan as well, as he earned $38.2 million over 12 months from the trio of public companies he runs, including Madison Square Garden Sports (MSGS), which owns the Knicks and NHL’s Rangers.
Dolan serves as CEO and executive chairman of MSGS and Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSGE), which both filed their proxies last week that include executive compensation for the fiscal year ending June 30.
At MSGS, Dolan earned 95% of his incentive award, $3.04 million, on top of his $1.6 million base salary. He also received an $8.1 million stock award and $401,024 in other compensation for a total of $13.15 million. The payout topped the previous two years, when Dolan received $10.15 million (2024) and $11.02 million (2023).
Dolan’s payout would have slotted in at No. 7 on the Knicks’ 2024-25 payroll behind Mitchell Robinson’s $14.3 million; Karl-Anthony Towns was first at $49.2 million. Dolan earned more than any player on the New York Rangers. Adam Fox’s $12 million salary led the Rangers last season.
Dolan’s compensation at MSGE, which owns the MSG venue, Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theater, rose to $14.15 million, up from $10.23 million (2024) and $9.31 million (2023). His base salary was $1.5 million, and he collected a $9.25 million stock award.
Sphere Entertainment, which owns MSG Networks and the $2.3 billion Las Vegas Sphere, is the other company where Dolan serves as CEO and executive chairman, and the Dolan family controls the voting stock. The company changed its fiscal year-end to December from June in 2025. It resulted in an April proxy statement for the transition period that covered the final six months of 2024.
Dolan’s annual base salary at Sphere is $230,000, and his maximum annual incentive bonus is 200% of his base—he nabbed 99.6% of his potential bonus for the six-month transition period. His Sphere contract has a different structure, where most of his pay is tied to a pair of option awards worth a combined $30.5 million. Annualizing those awards over the three-year contract results in yearly total compensation of roughly $10.9 million, including his salary and bonus.
Last year, Dolan signed three-year contract extensions with MSG Sports, MSG Entertainment and Sphere. MSGS’ stock has barely budged over the past year, but Sphere shares have been on fire, up 55%, with the company’s new Wizard of Oz production helping push the stock to a record close on Monday.
The Knicks ranked third in Sportico’s NBA valuations at $9.85 billion, while the Rangers are the NHL’s second most valuable team behind the Maple Leafs at $3.65 billion.