Madison Square Garden stock dinged because of lockout

The conventional wisdom is the players will feel the financial impact of the lockout long before the owners. The players are millionaires who (in some cases) lead extravagant lifestyles. The owners can lead extravagant lifestyles, they are billionaires with deeper pockets.

But at least one owner is already feeling the pinch of the lockout.

The Madison Square Garden Company — the parent company of the Knicks, the NHL’s Rangers, the building they play in and CableVision — has already seen a downgrade of its stock to hold by Bank of America because of fears of revenue lost by an extended lockout.

Here is what some Bank of America suit told NewsCore (story via Ball Don’t Lie):

“Despite our continued belief in MSG’s robust long-term story ... we think the shares will be unlikely to outperform over the near term with $90 million of adjusted operating cash flow at risk from a full-season NBA lockout and a possible LA Forum acquisition on the horizon,” the analysts wrote in a note.

Here is another note on the downgrade from CNBC.

This really isn’t going to hurt Knicks head man James Dolan much, he’s not going to have to give up his blues band or anything. Unfortunately. But it is a hit and it shows the owners are not immune — both sides get hurt the longer this drags out.

And the players will crack first. They will be the losers at the end of this lockout. Sorry, but Sam Amick is right.