11/19/22 | MSG Entertainment *SEARCH*
Madison Square Garden Entertainment
Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp.
(also known as MSG Entertainment) is an American entertainment holding company based in New York City. The company was established in 2020 when The Madison Square Garden Company (now MSG Sports) spun off its non-sports assets as an independent, publicly traded company.[4][5]
MSG Entertainment controls live events at Madison Square Garden, both in the arena and in The Theater at Madison Square Garden. In addition to the Garden itself, MSG Entertainment operates two other theaters in Manhattan: Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theatre. Outside New York City, MSG Entertainment controls the operations of the Chicago Theatre (acquired in 2008), co-booking at the Wang Theatre in Boston (since 2008), and an entertainment venue in Las Vegas known as MSG Sphere at The Venetian.[6] MSG Entertainment also produces the Radio City Christmas Spectacular (starring the Rockettes) at Radio City Music Hall and formerly in other venues around the United States.[7]
On March 26, 2021, MSG Entertainment announced that it would acquire the regional sports network group MSG Networks in an all-stock deal, reuniting it with its namesake venue;[6] MSG Networks had originally been spun out from The Madison Square Garden Company in 2015.[8] The acquisition was completed in July 2021.[9]
Its origins can trace back to 2010 when Cablevision Systems Corporation spun off the Madison Square Garden properties into a new company called The Madison Square Garden Company.
Type:
Traded as
Industry:
Founded:
2020[1]
Founder:
Headquarters:
New York City, New York, U.S.
Key people:
James L. Dolan (Executive Chairman & CEO)
Andrew Lustgarten (President)
Owner:
Dolan family (70.9% voting, 21.6% economic)[2]
Silver Lake Partners (≈10%)[3]
Divisions:
MSG Sphere Studios
Subsidiaries:
Website:
Facial recognition software controversy
MSG has used facial recognition systems at its venues since 2018.[10] In July 2022, MSG Entertainment instituted a policy that blacklists representatives of law firms that have been engaged in litigation with MSG or its subsidiaries from attending its venues in New York City. The company stated that this is for professional conduct reasons.[11][12]
MSG Entertainment has faced criticism for using facial recognition to enforce this policy,[13][12] which is being probed by the Attorney General of New York.[14] In January 2023, members of the New York State Assembly and New York State Senate introduced identical bills designed to prevent MSG Entertainment from enforcing its policy at sporting events.[15][16][17][18]
In late 2022, an attorney who works for a law firm in New Jersey involved in active litigation against MSG Entertainment was barred from attending the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with her nine-year-old daughter's Girl Scout troop and was forced to have her daughter enter the venue with the other children and mothers and attend the show without her.[19] The attorney in question does not practice law in the state of New York and had not heard of the relevant case involving MSG Entertainment until she was prevented from attending the show; she was singled out solely because of her association with her law firm.[19]
Explaining the policy, Executive Chairman James L. Dolan stated, "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."[19] One lawyer barred from entering Madison Square Garden to watch a New York Rangers game, meanwhile, stated that Dolan, "lit a firestorm–for no apparent reason other than that he is a petty and vindictive person."[15]
Executive management
James L. Dolan – Executive Chairman and CEO[20]
Andrew Lustgarten - President[20]
Scott Packman – Executive Vice President and General Counsel[21]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Square_Garden_Entertainment
Silver Lake
is an American global private equity firm focused on investments in technology, technology-enabled and related industries. Founded in 1999, the firm is one of the largest technology investors in the world. Its investment holdings have included Airbnb, Alibaba Group, Ancestry.com, Broadcom, Credit Karma, City Football Group, Dell Technologies, Diamond Baseball Holdings, Endeavor, Expedia Group, Fanatics, First Advantage, Flixbus, Global Blue, GoDaddy, Jio, Lightbox, Grupo BC de Asesoría Hipotecaria S.L., Motorola Solutions, New Zealand Rugby, NortonLifeLock, Qualtrics, Red Ventures, Sabre Corporation, Skype, SoFi, GLG, Seagate Technology, SolarWinds, TEG, Twitter, Unity Technologies, Waymo, Weld North Education, WP Engine, Vacasa, the A-League football competition in Australia, and ZPG. Silver Lake is headquartered in Silicon Valley, and has offices in New York, London and Hong Kong.
In June 2023, Silver Lake were ranked 11th in Private Equity International's PEI 300 ranking of the largest private equity firms in the world.[2]
Type:
Industry:
Founded:
1999; 24 years ago
Founders:
Jim Davidson
Headquarters:
Menlo Park, California, United States
Number of locations:
Multiple offices in 3 countries
Key people:
Ken Hao (chairman)
Mike Bingle (vice chairman)
Egon Durban (co-CEO)
Greg Mondre (co-CEO)
Joe Osnoss (managing partner)
AUM:
US$98 billion (2023)[1]
Website:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Lake_(investment_firm)
James Lawrence Dolan
(born May 11, 1955) is an American businessman who currently serves as the executive chairman and chief executive officer of Madison Square Garden Sports and Madison Square Garden Entertainment, and executive chairman of MSG Networks.[2] As the companies' chairman, Dolan oversees all operations within the company and supervises day-to-day operations of its professional sports teams, the New York Knicks and New York Rangers as well as their regional sports networks, which include MSG Network and MSG Plus. Dolan was previously CEO of Cablevision, founded by his father, until its sale in June 2016 to European telecom conglomerate Altice.
Early life and education
Dolan is one of six children of Cablevision founder Charles Dolan and his wife, Helen Ann Dolan.[3] He is of Irish descent.[4] After originally pursuing a career in music, Dolan eventually switched to a major in communications at SUNY New Paltz and began working for Cablevision in various capacities including sales before eventually being dispatched to Cleveland by his father to manage the launching of a sports radio station. In 1995, he was made CEO of Cablevision.[5] Throughout his early adult life, Dolan battled drug and alcohol problems and was reportedly known for having a volatile temper. In 1993, he went to drug rehabilitation at the Hazelden clinic in Center City, Minnesota.[6]
Business career
Dolan opposed his father's proposed Voom satellite service, which became a polarizing controversy among Cablevision's board of directors. While supporters argued Voom could propel Cablevision into the future emerging satellite market and a wider customer base, opponents of the plan, including James Dolan, argued it was too expensive with no expense relief for the foreseeable future. In the end, the younger Dolan prevailed and Voom was shut down. This was an instrumental event in Dolan emerging from his father's shadow, albeit reluctantly, as a viable businessman.[7]
His business career has included multiple failures, which include purchasing the failing Wiz electronics and entertainment chain, which ended up posting losses of $250 million before being liquidated, and the Clearview Cinemas chain which failed to generate any significant revenue.[7]
Philanthropy
Dolan fostered Cablevision's philanthropic partnership with The Lustgarten Foundation, a private supporter of pancreatic cancer research. Together with Charles Dolan and former Cablevision Vice Chairman and Madison Square Garden Chairman Marc Lustgarten.[8] Dolan established the Foundation in 1998. In 2008, Cablevision made a multi-year commitment to underwrite the Foundation's costs, ensuring that 100 percent of every donation goes to researching this disease.[9] With Dolan's backing, Cablevision used its assets to advance the curePC campaign, aimed at increasing public awareness of pancreatic cancer and is responsible for organizing the Holiday Rock & Roll Bash, the Foundation's annual fundraiser.[10][11]
Dolan played a role in organizing the recent "12-12-12" benefit concert, which raised an initial $50 million for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, with additional money still coming in.[12] Other benefit concerts included "The Concert For New York City," which generated more than $35 million in aid for 9/11 victims and heroes, and "From The Big Apple to The Big Easy," which raised nearly $9 million for Hurricane Katrina relief.[13] Dolan supports MSG's ongoing commitment to the community, particularly through the Garden of Dreams Foundation, the non-profit charity that partners with MSG to help children facing obstacles throughout the New York metropolitan area.[14]
Sports management
In 1994, Paramount Communications, the owner of Madison Square Garden, was acquired by Viacom, who in turn sold the MSG properties to Cablevision and ITT Corporation, which had 50% ownership each. ITT sold its share to Cablevision three years later.
In 1999, Dolan was given an increased role in managing Cablevision's sports properties and is now the primary manager of these assets. The teams under his domain include most notably the National Basketball Association's New York Knicks, the National Hockey League's New York Rangers, the Women's National Basketball Association's New York Liberty, and the American Hockey League's Hartford Wolf Pack. Of these teams, the only one to win a championship is the Wolf Pack, who won the Calder Cup in the 1999–2000 AHL season.
As Chairman of Madison Square Garden, he supervises day-to-day operations of its professional sports teams and regional sports networks, which include MSG Network and MSG Plus. He also serves as a governor of the Knicks and Rangers to their respective leagues.[15]
Intuit Dome/L.A. Forum dispute
In an ongoing lawsuit between the Madison Square Garden Company and the city of Inglewood, California, Dolan was said to be trying to avoid being deposed in the case. The Los Angeles Clippers want to build a new arena, which would compete directly with the Forum Presented by Chase, then owned by MSG.[43] In December 2018, the Madison Square Garden Company was countersued by the Clippers for trying to prevent the construction of a competing arena.[44] In March 2019, leaked emails revealed that Irving Azoff attempted to lure the Los Angeles Lakers back to The Forum after their lease at the Staples Center was up. Despite nothing coming of the proposal, Azoff's proposal to re-purpose The Forum was seen as a way of preventing the Clippers from building their own arena in Inglewood and ensuring that the Madison Square Garden Company got an unfair advantage over rival AEG, which already owns part of the Lakers.[45] In the summer of 2019, details emerged in regard to Dolan's tactics being used to prevent the construction of the competing arena. The Madison Square Garden Company had spent money trying to influence Inglewood's mayoral election as a way of trying to stop the arena from being built. They had also funded community groups to help their opposition to the arena.[46] Clippers owner Steve Ballmer later acquired The Forum from MSG for $400 million in March 2020 to effectively end the dispute and lawsuit to clear an obstacle to build the Intuit Dome, and the arena remains open as the Kia Forum.[47][48]
Media policies
Dolan rarely speaks with members of the media and communicates to the press through released statements or in interviews with MSG Network. In 2000, Dolan instituted media training for all Garden employees who might deal with the press and instituted an ironclad rule against team personnel criticizing others in the organization via the media.[49] Under Dolan's watch MSG implemented controversial media policies limiting access to players. Some of these measures included prohibiting reporters and Knicks' beat writers from interviewing players without an MSG public relations official present, forbidding one-on-one interviews, and banning writers who write articles critical of the organization. The policies also forbid the MSG Network from being critical of the Knicks and the Rangers, regardless of their performance. Such measures were not standard practice for other NBA teams.[50] In addition, the Knicks did not make their medical staff available to the press.[51] In 2004, longtime broadcaster Marv Albert's contract was not renewed by MSG Network, allegedly because of his criticism of the Knicks' play.[52][53]
Personal life
Dolan lives on Long Island with his wife Kristin, whom he named the chief executive officer of AMC Networks in 2023.[54] He has been married twice and has six sons.[55] His second wedding took place at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. Dolan is the son of Cablevision founder Charles Dolan, and nephew of Cleveland Guardians owner Larry Dolan.[4] On March 28, 2020, it was announced that he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.[56] He contributed to Donald Trump's 2020 presidential reelection campaign.[57]
Hobbies
Dolan performs blues-inspired rock as the singer for JD & The Straight Shot.[58] After a show in New York City in 2017, one reviewer wrote that Dolan "sings like he’s trying not to cough, and it’s possible he can’t play the guitar. Worse, his songs belie his status as a cosplaying bluesman; most of his lyrics simply summarize current events or books that he’s read as if he were presenting a 10th grade English class project."[59] On August 1, 2018, his band released the song titled "I Should've Known" inspired by his own experiences perpetuating sexual harassment from the album The Great Divide. The album was released in March 2019.[60][61]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_L._Dolan
The Lustgarten Foundation
“We are fulfilling our mission because of the support and dedication of our incredible staff and volunteers, scientific advisory board, board of directors and corporate advisory board. Thank you for your support, oversight, passion and commitment to conquering pancreatic cancer.”
Scientific Advisory Board
David Tuveson, MD, PhD
Chief Scientist – Lustgarten Foundation
Professor, Director – Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center
Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD
Chief Medical Advisor – Lustgarten Foundation
Deputy Director, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
Professor of Oncology
Peter Allen, MD
Chief, Division of Surgical Oncology – Duke Surgery, Duke University School of Medicine
Professor of Surgery
Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD
Chief Science Officer, SVP and Vice Dean for Science – NYU Langone Health
Professor, Department of Medicine
Luis Diaz, MD
Head of the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Ted Hong, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital
Director, Gastrointestinal Service, Department of Radiation Oncology
Tyler Jacks, PhD
Koch Institute, MIT
Professor, Director, Koch Institute, HHMI Investigator
Reuben Shaw, PhD
Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory – Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Selwyn Vickers, MD
President and CEO – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Bert Vogelstein, MD
Professor, HHMI Investigator – The Ludwig Center at Johns Hopkins
Jen Jen Yeh, MD
Professor, Vice Chair of Research – UNC School of Medicine
BOARD OFFICERS
Andrew Lustgarten
Chairman – Lustgarten Foundation
Director – MSG Sports
James L. Dolan
Vice Chairman – Lustgarten Foundation
Executive Chairman & CEO – MSG Entertainment
Executive Chairman – MSG Entertainment/MSG Sports
Interim Executive Chairman – AMC Networks
Adam Silver
Vice Chairman – Lustgarten Foundation
Commissioner – National Basketball Association
Philip D’Ambrosio
Treasurer – Lustgarten Foundation
Senior Vice President and Treasurer – MSG Entertainment
Jennie Fortunoff
Secretary – Lustgarten Foundation
Principal – Esterow Events & Consulting, Inc.
BOARD MEMBERS
Sommer Bazuro, PhD
Chief Medical Officer – IPG Health
John Cobb
Partner – Paul Hastings
Jessica Lustgarten Courtemanche
Vice President/Director, Data and Analysis – DigitasLBi North America
Charles F. Dolan
Chairman Emeritus – Lustgarten Foundation
Chairman Emeritus – AMC Networks
Former Chairman – Cablevision Systems Corporation
Quentin Dolan
Investment Director – MSG Sports
Director – MSG Sports
Marcia Lustgarten
Former Director, Optimum Community – Cablevision Systems Corporation
Sheila Mahony
Former Executive Vice President, Communication, Government and Public Affairs – Cablevision Systems Corporation
Scott Penberthy, PhD
Managing Director, Applied AI, Office of the CTO – Google
Charles R. Schueler
Former Executive Vice President, Media and Community Relations – Cablevision Systems Corporation
Willa Shalit
Co-Founder and Principal – RTM Limited
Co-Founder – Let’s Win! Pancreatic Cancer Foundation
Linda Tantawi
CEO – Lustgarten Foundation
Selwyn Vickers, MD
President and CEO – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
EMERITUS MEMBERS
Robert F. Vizza, PhD
Chairman Emeritus – Lustgarten Foundation