James Dolan, the owner that Knicks fans love to hate, may be laying the groundwork for a sale of the franchise. Shares in Madison Square Garden Co. soared on the news.

Late yesterday Dolan announced he was exploring a spin-off that would separate the Knicks and the Rangers from the rest of Madison Square Garden. While Dolan would remain in charge of the teams, at least at first, putting them together in a separate public company would offer him the chance to whittle down his stake easily if he chooses. Dolan is understood to be more interested in music and building cutting-edge entertainment venues than sports.

"He wants to be more Elon Musk than George Steinbrenner," an analyst told Crain's in an article last month.

That article explained how Dolan's reputation in the business community has grown substantially in recent years even as sports fans continue to revile him for his executive-office decisions. Dolan smartly read the prevailing winds in media three years ago, when he decided to sell Cablevision for $10 billion, before it was ravaged by cord-cutting, and invest the proceeds in the live-entertainment arena.

If Dolan does in fact spin off the Knicks and the Rangers, it would mark the first time the teams haven't been owned by Madison Square Garden. The Garden has controlled the Rangers since the team was founded in 1926, while the Knicks were launched by an MSG president in 1946. Whenever the Garden changed hands over the years to corporate owners including Gulf & Western, ITT and Cablevision, the teams came along in a bundled deal.

Charles Dolan, founder of Cablevision and HBO, acquired the Garden and its teams for $650 million in 1997. He bequeathed them to his son Jim two years later. MSG's market value is now $7 billion and jumped 14% today on news that Dolan might be preparing his exit.