The Knicks Reminded The World That New York’s Relevance Still Matters…

 For some time we have been told, and probably, convinced ourselves, that New York and winning did not have to be part of the formula for sports business success. Tom Brady and Steph Curry, Lionel Messi and Caitlin Clark, LeBron James and Shoei Ohtani etc. etc…all have done pretty well coming into New York but not repping the city.

We all have these pieces of glass where people can engage from anywhere and brands and media platforms will take you on where you are. That’s all that’s needed in a global economy. Now if you perform well when you visit The Apple… I remember former NBA star Lionel Simmons saying  in COLLEGE  when he was at LaSalle University that if he didn’t play well when the Explorers went to play at Fordham it would have cost him money down the road even in the pre NIL era…your success rate certainly goes up, but the pressure, the daily pressure…who needs it, right?

There is the line I have cited from former MLB manager Art Howe, who said that the difference between managing in Oakland with the A’s and in New York with the Mets was pretty clear.

“In Oakland you play one 162 game season, in NY you play 162 seasons.”

And if you don’t win in New York, you lose relevance.

Seemed to make sense. After all we were in the longest drought of the four men’s major leagues…14 years since the Giants beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl…without a New York championship, and the business of sports has never been bolder, brighter or more relevant right?

Until now.

The Knicks title served as a great reminder of relevance and the amplification of what is possible if you win on the biggest stage in New York, and do it with a style that the world believes is reflective of what people think of New York…gritty, resilient, inclusive, and even with a bit of a smile these days.

No disrespect to the Carolina Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup, or even the Seattle Seahawks winning the Super Bowl, but they did not resonate the way a New York title did beyond the five boroughs, and will continue to resonate in the business community for quite a long time.

Now the Knicks title was a bit of a perfect storm and a magical run with very likeable athletes and it captured the world’s attention, not just of NBA fans, but of casual fans and marketers, with its mix of celebrity and down home feelings. It also fell in just as the most of the world was getting ready to enjoy a World Cup on North American soil, giving the Knicks a bit of a bigger window to shine.

All true, but because there was such a gap in time since the last New York team title…social media so prevalent, streaming now mainstream, a Pandemic come and gone, heck we didn’t even know what TikTok was when the Giants won in 2012…perhaps we had forgotten that New York, with the eyes of the world and the cultural mix involved and all the investment that resonates around New York being the business capital of the world, really matters in the extension and amplification of success.

Maybe not as much as in the 20^th century, when physical location was so important to business success and winning in New York meant the brands, and the investment, was literally down the street, but the Knicks showed us that capturing the world’s attention, at least in this run, by winning in New York, still matters a great dela more than maybe we thought it still did.

Will that matter as much if the Yankees or Mets, Jets or Giants, Rangers or Islanders or Devils win a title soon? Maybe this was a one-off glimpse into the past, but maybe not. We won’t know for a while, but if the world ever needed to be reminded of the value of winning on the brightest and biggest stage (something a World Cup champ will also have the honor of doing in just a few weeks) in New York, we received it, and the message is pretty clear.

There is nothing like New York to grow relevance and capture global attention.

It is a place unlike any other, and if you can make it here..still…you can make it anywhere.

And the recognition will flow.