Madison Square Garden Sports Corp.

Pre-history

On May 31, 1923, Tex Rickard incorporated the New Madison Square Garden Corporation for the purpose of building and operating the third Madison Square Garden. On January 15, 1925, shortly after the Garden opened, the corporation's name was changed to the Madison Square Garden Corporation.

Following the success of the National Hockey League 's New York Americans, the Madison Square Garden Corporation established the New York Rangers, which began play in 1926. In 1946, at the behest of Ned Irish, the Madison Square Garden Corporation became a charter member of the National Basketball Association with the New York Knicks.

By the mid-1950s, James D. Norris and Arthur Wirtz, who already owned the Detroit Olympia and Chicago Stadium as well as interests in numerous National Hockey League teams, owned some 60% of the stock in the Madison Square Garden Corporation. Both men served on the corporation's board, as did Irish (who was executive vice president) and John Reed Kilpatrick (who became chairman of the board), among others. In 1957, however, U.S. Federal Judge Sylvester J. Ryan ruled that the International Boxing Club of New York (IBC), run by Norris and Wirtz, was monopolizing the promotion of boxing matches in violation of U.S. antitrust law. Ryan ordered the two men to divest their stock in the Madison Square Garden Corporation within five years and resign as officers and directors of the company. Though Norris and Wirtz appealed, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld Ryan's decision two years later.

On January 30, 1959, Norris and Wirtz accordingly sold their controlling interest in the Madison Square Garden Corporation, accounting for 40% of the stock, to automaker-turned-investment firm Graham-Paige for $4 million. On April 7, 1960, the Madison Square Garden Corporation merged with Graham-Paige, and on March 9, 1962, Graham-Paige changed its name to the Madison Square Garden Corporation to reflect its largest asset.

Gulf and Western Industries, which began purchasing Madison Square Garden stock in 1969 and by 1977 owned 81%, purchased complete control of the corporation and turned it into a wholly owned subsidiary on August 19, 1977. At the time of Gulf and Western's acquisition, the Madison Square Garden Corporation owned the arena, Knicks, Rangers, three horse tracks ( Roosevelt Raceway, Arlington Park, and Washington Park Race Track ), Holiday on Ice, and real estate holdings in Long Island, Manhattan, and Chicago. In June 1989, Gulf and Western changed its name to Paramount Communications, reflecting its ownership of Paramount Pictures and its focus on its entertainment and publishing properties.

In 1994, Viacom purchased majority ownership of Paramount Communications, but quickly sold MSG to Cablevision and ITT Corporation. In 1997, ITT sold its half to Cablevision for $650 million.

Main history

In February 2010, Cablevision spun off the MSG properties, including the sports franchises, into the Madison Square Garden Company.

On September 30, 2015, MSG spun off its regional sports networks; the split was structured so that the original Madison Square Garden Company was renamed to MSG Networks, Inc., and spun off its sports and entertainment properties as a new Madison Square Garden Company.

In September 2018, Madison Square Garden began work on a spherical music venue in Las Vegas, called MSG Sphere Las Vegas, planned to open in 2021. Earlier in the year, MSG announced plans to build MSG Sphere London, near the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. Both venues are designed by Populous architects and are supposed to incorporate highly advanced audio and visual technologies. The company's Las Vegas venue opened on September 29, 2023. In January 2024, plans for the venue in London were shelved.

In November 2019, MSG announced its intent to perform a tax-free spin off its non-sports assets as a new publicly traded company. Both companies would remain controlled by the Dolan family. The spin-off was completed in April 2020, with the entertainment assets spun off as Madison Square Garden Entertainment, and the existing company renamed Madison Square Garden Sports.

In February 2026, it was reported that Madison Square Garden Sports was considering spinning out the Knicks and Rangers as separate companies following calls from an activist shareholder.