Madison Square Garden Entertainment

Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp.

Company type	Public
Industry	Entertainment
Founded	April 20, 2020 (2020-04-20)
Headquarters	New York City , United States
Key people	James L. Dolan (Executive Chairman)
Products	Venue operations, event production
Owner	Family of Charles Dolan (control)

Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (commonly known as MSG Entertainment) is a United States-based entertainment holding company headquartered in New York City, under the control of the family of the late Charles Dolan.

The firm was established in April 2020 when The Madison Square Garden Company (now Madison Square Garden Sports) separated its non-sports divisions into a standalone, publicly listed corporation. In April 2023, Madison Square Garden Entertainment underwent a rebranding to become Sphere Entertainment, which then separated its theater and event operations into a newly formed company that retained the MSG Entertainment name. Sphere Entertainment holds a one-third ownership interest in this newly independent MSG Entertainment.

MSG Entertainment operates its premier venue, Madison Square Garden, along with The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Additionally, it oversees two other Manhattan-based venues: Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theatre. Beyond New York, it owns the Chicago Theatre, which was acquired in 2008. The company is also responsible for producing the annual Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall.

History

In November 2019, The Madison Square Garden Company revealed intentions to separate its non-sports assets into a new entity named Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSGE), a process finalized on April 20, 2020.

On March 26, 2021, MSGE declared an all-stock acquisition of the regional sports network group MSG Networks, thereby reuniting the network with its namesake venue; this transaction was completed by July 2021.

On April 20, 2023, MSGE rebranded as Sphere Entertainment and executed a stock split to spin off its traditional live event operations—including all venues except for the Las Vegas Sphere—into a new MSGE entity. Sphere retained ownership of Sphere Las Vegas, MSG Networks, and maintained a 33% stake in the new MSGE. Prior to this restructuring, MSGE divested its interest in Tao Group Hospitality for $550 million to Mark Scheinberg, having previously transferred this stake under Sphere.

Use of facial recognition

Since 2018, MSG has utilized facial recognition system technology across its venues. In July 2022, MSG Entertainment introduced a policy prohibiting representatives from law firms engaged in litigation against MSG or its subsidiaries from entering its New York City venues, citing standards of professional conduct.

This policy generated criticism due to the use of facial recognition technology to enforce these restrictions, leading to an inquiry by the Attorney General of New York. Subsequently, in January 2023, legislators from both the New York State Assembly and New York State Senate proposed legislation intended to prevent MSG from applying this policy at sporting events.

In late 2022, an attorney from New Jersey affiliated with a law firm suing MSG was denied access to attend the Radio City Christmas Spectacular alongside her daughter's Girl Scout troop, resulting in her daughter attending without her. The attorney was excluded solely because her firm was involved in litigation against MSG despite her lack of involvement in the case and not practicing law in New York.

Executive Chairman James L. Dolan defended the measure by stating: "It's like something out of ‘The Godfather,’ it's like ‘It's only business.’ It's not only business, and if you sue us, we’re gonna tell you not to come." A lawyer who was barred described Dolan’s approach as "petty and vindictive," underscoring the controversy surrounding MSG’s enforcement tactics.