Madison Square Garden announces intention to sell New York Liberty

The Madison Square Garden Company announced its intention to find a buyer for the New York Liberty who will “take over immediate operations of the franchise”, in a press release sent out Tuesday morning.

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“We have been a strong and vocal advocate for the Liberty and the WNBA since the beginning,” Jim Dolan, executive chairman and chief executive officer of The Madison Square Garden Company, said in a statement. “This was a difficult decision for us, which we made after carefully assessing the needs of our business. We are confident that new ownership can build on the foundation we established over these last 21 years, and steward this incredible franchise into an even more successful future.”

The decision to sell the Liberty leaves many questions: exactly who is likely to step forward to buy the team? Where will the team play, and is playing in Madison Square Garden still a possibility? Is the team even assured of staying in New York? As the shocking news settled over the WNBA landscape, more than one league source expressed concern on all these fronts.

Even the other NBA team in town, the Brooklyn Nets, may not offer the stability a new team would seek out. Nets principal owner Mikhail Prokhorov just sold a minority stake in the team that can become a majority stake in four years to Joseph Tsai. Prokhorov is not in the business of adding sports assets at the moment, it appears. Whether Tsai would consider adding the Liberty to the Barclays attractions is unknown, especially since Prokhorov retains ownership of the building in the recent transaction.

One thing is certain: the league was excited and embraced the move of the San Antonio Stars franchise to Las Vegas. This news is not getting the same response.

UPDATE: WNBA president Lisa Borders has now weighed in.