“The Knicks, like all professional sports teams, are social entertainment and therefore should be held in social ownership,” declares an article published by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) two days after the New York Knicks won the 2026 NBA championship on June 13.
Titled “Now More Than Ever, Socialize the Knicks,” the article is a reprint of a piece published by the Young Democratic Socialists of America in 2007 proclaiming that socialism is the key, not just to the team’s success, but also to redeeming all professional sports, hospitals and mass transit.
“If the capitalist Knicks ownership is unwilling to take the right steps towards correcting poor leadership, the Knicks fan community must,” the article by David Duhalde, a member of New York City DSA and a former national organizer for Young Democratic Socialists, argues:
“What makes us think that if [Knicks Owner James] Dolan sells the Knicks, another owner will save our beloved team? This is a great opportunity for us to propose an alternative form of ownership: let the fans and team staff manage and own the Knicks.”
Privately-owned hospitals, mass transit and sports teams (“social entertainment”) all threaten “the public good,” the article claims:
“It’s not enough to say that the Knicks, like all professional sports teams, are social entertainment and therefore should be held in social ownership.
“When public entities, like mass transit or hospitals, are privately owned, the public good is threatened. You don’t have to be a leftist to be disgusted at tax breaks and tax subsidies that sports corporations receive.”
“The best way to prevent corporate abuse of a city’s attachment to their team is social ownership,” the article contends, proposing that the city take ownership of the team and sell shares of stock to citizens, similar to the way the NFL’s Green Bay Packers are publicly owned.
“In order to save our social entertainment, we as fans need to build a social movement” incorporating protests by fans, “days of action against management” and coordinated boycotts, the author writes.
The government could also just seize ownership of the team to achieve its socialist agenda, the article says:
“Another target could be the city government. A long-shot possibility is the city could take the Knicks into trusteeship from the Dolan family and then sell off shares to the fans to facilitate the change in ownership.”
Regardless of the means employed, socialism is the end goal, the article concludes:
“There are many options, but only one goal: that the Knicks should truly be owned by the people.”
