Report: Rangers' MSG Networks going bankrupt, will be bailed out by Amazon

According to a report from Josh Kosman of the New York Post, MSG Networks, the cable tv station owned by New York Rangers owner James Dolan, is on the verge of bankruptcy. Furthermore, Kosman reports that the embattled cable network is in negotiations with Amazon to avoid bankruptcy. 

From Kosman's column earlier today:

MSG Networks, the embattled cable TV station that airs New York Knicks and Rangers games, is in talks to reach a deal to avoid bankruptcy as soon as Friday — and insiders speculate that help could be coming from a deep-pocketed media player like Amazon, The Post has learned.

The sports channel controlled by billionaire Knicks owner James Dolan — currently blacked out for about 1 million New York-area subscribers because of a contract dispute with the Optimum cable network — is scrambling to restructure its debt with a group of lenders led by JPMorgan who are owed $829 million.

MSG Networks in October defaulted on its loans but lenders have extended the payment deadline multiple times, most recently from Jan. 10 to Friday at midnight. This time, the aim is to reach a deal rather than simply extend the deadline again, according to sources briefed on the discussions.

- Josh Kosman

“Talks are ongoing,” sources close to the situation told the New York Post on Friday afternoon.

Representatives form Amazon declined to comment on the report, but it's worth noting that Amazon is also an investor in the YES Network that airs Yankees and Nets games, with Prime now airing weekly Yankees games in the New York City area. Would you really be surprised if the streaming giant ended up with a similar arrangement for Rangers and Knicks games? The Blueshirts exclusively on Prime, anyone?