Amid $10,000,000 Lawsuit, Knicks Face More Legal Misery With MSG’s License

The New York Knicks will take a trip to Toronto to meet the Raptors for the first time this season on December 1. However, ahead of the first meeting, some tensions are brewing between the two teams. The New York Knicks and the Toronto Raptors have found themselves embroiled in a legal drama amidst the ongoing NBA regular season. Following their theft of proprietary and confidential files claim, the Knicks are seeking upwards of $10 million in damages. In addition, they also intend to seek attorneys’ fees.

While already struggling with a lawsuit of their own, another legal misery is ready to knock on their doorsteps as Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. is under investigation to get its liquor license revoked.

Knicks entangled in yet another legal trouble

The investigation comes on the heels of Madison Square Garden Entertainment barring lawyers from its three venues in New York City. One might think that a ban based on someone’s employment status would be difficult to enforce. However, MSG deployed biological facial detection technology using employee data from the law firm’s website.

This led to the New York State Liquor Authority opening an investigation to revoke MSG’s liquor license. A panel of judges from the New York Supreme Court 1st Appellate Department stated that MSG would be allowed to challenge the state’s decision only after the culmination of the administrative hearing process. MSG issued a claim stating that since MSG is a private venue, the state lacks the authority to revoke the company’s on-premises liquor license. The judges dismissed the claim, citing that the state liquor authority can apply the “open to the general public” standard to Knick’s venue, Madison Square Garden, the Beacon Theater, and Radio City Music Hall.

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Addressing the lawsuit, a spokesperson for MSG told Bloomberg, “Today’s decision will not deter us from fighting an administrative agency that has run amok. The SLA has been trampling over small businesses for decades, including through systemic corruption. No business—large or small—should have to endure these abuses.”

Knicks and Raptors $10,000,000 legal drama

It all dates back to August, when Knicks owner James Dolan filed a lawsuit against the Raptors and a number of coaches, citing alleged theft of proprietary information. The lawsuit states that Ikechukwu Azotam, who held the position of Knicks’ video coordinator, used his position to steal “play frequency reports, a prep book for the 2022–23 season, video scouting files and materials, and more” before taking over as Raptors’ head of video and an assistant player development coach. The Raptors rejected their claims, asserting that the data does not belong to the Knicks’ but includes compiled videos from the Raptors’ games, accessible to all NBA teams.

Knicks argued that the matter should rather be discussed in court than by the NBA Constitution since Raptors owner Larry Tanenbaum is “a close ally of Commissioner Adam Silver”. They further added that the league cannot impose a fine greater than $10 million. “And the NBA Constitution does not authorize the Commissioner to award legal fees in disputes between two teams… As the Knicks intend to prove at trial, damages exceed $10 million. The Knicks also intend to seek attorneys’ fees,” the Knicks wrote.

What are your thoughts on the legal drama between the Knicks and the Raptors? Let us know in the comments!

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