Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, has been the name of four arenas in New York City. It is also the name of the entity which owns the arena and several of the professional sports franchises which play there. There have been four incarnations of the arena: the first two were located at the northeast corner of Madison Square (Madison Avenue and 26th Street) from which the arena derived its name. Subsequently a 17,000-seat Garden (opened December 15, 1925) was built at 50th Street and 8th Avenue, and the current Garden, which opened February 14, 1968, is at 8th Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station. One Penn Plaza stands at the side.

The arena lends its name to the Madison Square Garden Network, and sister channel MSG Plus, two cable television networks that broadcast most sporting events that are held in the Garden, as well as concerts and entertainment events that have taken place at the venue. In 2007 the Arena came second as 'World's Busiest Arena' after the M.E.N. in Manchester, England, United Kingdom.

Madison Square Garden also refers to itself in its advertising campaigns as "The World's Most Famous Arena."

History

A lodge had been built three years after James Madison's death in a critical spot at the then-northernmost departure and arrival point in New York City — and named Madison Cottage in honor of the recently deceased fourth president. The site of Madison Cottage would remain a critical crossroads throughout the city's history — after its demise the site gave rise to a park, in turn named Madison Square,Jackson, Kenneth T. (ed.), The Encyclopedia of New York City (1995) ISBN 0-300-05536-6 which remains today. Madison Square in turn, gave rise to the names of Madison Avenue and Madison Square Gardens, the latter taking the name of its original location: adjacent to Madison Square — which also remained the location of the second building to carry the name.

The original Madison Square Gardens became a prominent cycling venue and gave rise to a form of track cycle racing, Madison Racing, which remains an Olympic Sport today.

1879

The first Madison Square Garden was a 10,000 seat arena that was mainly used as a velodrome. It closed in 1890.

1890–1925

The second Madison Square Garden (now known as Madison Square Garden II), was an 8,000 seat indoor arena that hosted the 1924 Democratic National Convention. It closed in 1924.

1925–1968

The third Madison Square Garden was the first not to be located at Madison Square. It was an 18,000 seat indoor arena that hosted the Knicks, Rangers, and Americans. It closed in 1967.

Madison Square Garden Bowl

The Madison Square Garden Bowl was a 72,000 seat outdoor arena in Queens used to host boxing matches.

1968–present

On February 14, 1968 Madison Square Garden IV opened after the Pennsylvania Railroad tore down the above-ground portions of Pennsylvania Station and continued railway traffic underneath. The new structure was one of the first of its kind to be built above an active railroad system and the platforms of an active railroad station. It was an engineering feat constructed by R.E. McKee of El Paso, Texas.

Public outcry over the demolished Beaux-Arts structure led to the creation of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

The current Garden is the hub of Madison Square Garden Center in the office and entertainment complex formally addressed as Pennsylvania Plaza and commonly known as "Penn Plaza" for the railroad station atop which the complex is located.

In 1972, the Garden's Chairman, Irving Mitchell Felt, suggested moving the Knicks and the Rangers to what was a proposed venue in the New Jersey Meadows (now completed and known as Meadowlands Sports Complex or Izod Center.) This location now hosts its own NBA team (New Jersey Nets) and from 1982–2007, the NHL's New Jersey Devils. The NFL's New York Giants were the only established New York-named team that actually did move there, and they were later joined by the Jets. Felt's efforts fueled controversy between the Garden and New York City over Real Estate Tax. The scenario again flared in 1980 when a reported threat by the Garden supposed a similar move of popular sports teams in an effort to again challenge property tax. Efforts were ignored by city leaders.

MSG was the home arena for the NY Raiders/NY Golden Blades of the World Hockey Association.

In 1991, Garden owners spent $200 million to renovate facilities and add 89 suites. The process involved hundreds of upper-tier seats being removed to make way. The project was designed by Ellerbe Becket.

In 2004–2005 Cablevision (the Garden's owner) battled with the City of New York over proposed West Side Stadium which would compete with the Garden. New stadium proposals halted; and Cablevision announced its own plans to raze the Garden, replace it with high-rise commercial buildings and build a new Garden one block away at the James Farley Post Office site in conjunction with the Moynihan Station project. However, on April 3, 2008 MSG executives announced plans to once again renovate and modernize the current Garden in time for the Knicks and Rangers' 2011–12 seasons, though the vice president of the Garden says he remains committed to the original Moynihan project - the installation of an extension of Penn Station in the Farley Post Office.

Present operations

The present Garden hosts approximately 320 events a year but it is best known as the home of the New York Rangers of the NHL; the New York Knicks of the NBA and their sister operation the New York Liberty of the WNBA, as well as the Big East Men's Basketball Conference Tournament. The aforementioned professional sports teams play their home games in the arena and are owned by the Garden itself. It also hosts the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus when it comes to New York City (although the Izod Center and Nassau Coliseum also host the circus each year), selected home games for the St. John's men's Red Storm (college basketball), the annual pre and postseason NIT tournaments, the NBA Draft, the Millrose Games athletics meet, and almost any other kind of indoor activity that draws large audiences, such as the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and the 2004 Republican National Convention. It has previously hosted the 1976, 1980 and 1992 Democratic National Conventions, and hosted the NFL Draft for many years (now held at Garden-leased Radio City Music Hall). In 2007, over 13,000 fans enjoyed the National Lacrosse League's New York Titans inaugural home opener at Madison Square Garden. In 2008, the Titans played five home games at the Garden.

The Garden hosted the Stanley Cup Finals and NBA Finals simultaneously on two occasions: in 1972 and 1994.

MSG hosted the following All-Star Games:

• 1994 NHL All-Star Game

• 1998 NBA All-Star Game

• WNBA All-Star Games in 1999, 2003, and 2006

MSG also hosted games in the finals:

• NBA Finals:

• *1970

• *1972

• *1973

• *1994

• *1999

• Stanley Cup Finals:

• *1972

• *1979

• *1994

Connecticut-based World Wrestling Entertainment considers it a home arena as well, due to the fact that all generations of the McMahon family, including Vince McMahon's father and grandfather, have promoted shows at the Garden. MSG has hosted several WrestleMania (I, X, XX) and SummerSlam events (1988, 1991, 1998), two Survivor Series (1996, 2002) events and the 2000 and 2008 Royal Rumble. More WWE Championships have been won at MSG than any other arena. WWE's strong relationship with Madison Square Garden prevented competitor World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from ever having a show at the Garden. In 2005, WWE severed business ties with the arena because WWE felt that increased rental costs would prevent them from making a profit in the building. However, over a year later, World Wrestling Entertainment temporarily patched things up with MSG and the hiatus ended with a September 11, 2006 edition of Raw and HEAT. Though they pulled the 20th installment of SummerSlam, which would have been held at the Garden on August 26, 2007. (It was held at the Continental Airlines Arena instead.) WWE continues to make occasional appearances at MSG, and returned for the 2008 Royal Rumble in January.

MSG is also known for its place in the history of boxing. Many of boxing's biggest fights were held at Madison Square Garden, including the Roberto Duran-Ken Buchanan affair, and the first Joe Frazier–Muhammad Ali bout. Before promoters such as Don King and Bob Arum moved boxing to Las Vegas, Madison Square Garden was considered the mecca of boxing. The original 18½' × 18½' ring, which was brought from the second and third generation of the Garden, was officially retired on September 19, 2007 and donated to the International Boxing Hall of Fame after 82 years of service. A 20' × 20' ring replaced it beginning on October 6 of that same year.
Many large popular-music concerts in New York City take place in Madison Square Garden. Particularly famous ones include George Harrison's Concert For Bangladesh, The Concert for New York City following the September 11 attacks and John Lennon's final concert appearance before his murder in 1980. The Garden usually hosts a concert each year on New Years Eve, with the Knicks and Rangers usually playing on the road. The Police played their final show of their reunion tour at the Garden in 2008.

Many musical acts released seminal live albums recorded at MSG, including, Céline Dion, Kiss, Whitney Houston, Johnny Cash, Michael Bublé, Beyoncé, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eminem, The Grateful Dead, Paul McCartney, Luis Miguel, Shania Twain, Jay-Z, Led Zeppelin, Fania All Stars, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix, Billy Joel, Phish, Elton John, Elvis Presley, Madonna, Metallica, Mary J Blige, Gwen Stefani, George Michael, Depeche Mode, U2, The Rolling Stones, Britney Spears, Shakira, Slayer, Kelly Rowland, Gareth Gates, Justin Timberlake, Linkin Park, NSYNC, Nine Inch Nails, Cher, Christina Aguilera, Spice Girls, The Who, Enrique Iglesias, Oasis, Ricky Martin, Barbra Streisand, RBD, Green Day, and Se7en. Other artists, yet including Led Zeppelin and others such as Dispatch, Janet Jackson, Pearl Jam, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and Victor Manuelle have released DVDs showing their live performances at the Garden. Some of these releases, such as by Cream and Michael Jackson, Black Lions, show special anniversary or reunion concerts at the venue. An extensive list of live performances played at the venue is included below. On August 14, 2009, CBS Television showed "Neil Diamond: Hot August Night NYC" which was a concert taped at the Garden earlier.

The arena is also used for other special events, including tennis and circus events. The New York Police Academy, New York University, Baruch College/CUNY and Yeshiva University also hold their annual graduation ceremonies at Madison Square Garden. It hosted the Grammy Awards in 1972, 1997 and 2003 (which are normally held in Los Angeles) as well as the Latin Grammy Awards in 2006. The Garden also hosted the 2005 Country Music Association Awards (normally held in Nashville).

The Big East Conference men's basketball tournament has been held at MSG every year since 1983 making it the longest period a conference tournament has been held at a single location. The PBR has even made frequent stops each year.

Seating

Seating in the present Madison Square Garden is arranged in six ascending levels. The first level, which is only available for basketball games and concerts, but not for hockey games and ice shows, is the "floor" or "court-side" seating. Next above this is the loge seating, followed by the 100-level and 200-level promenades, the 300-level promenade, and the 400-level or mezzanine. The seats of these levels originally bore the colors red, orange, yellow, green, and blue, respectively. For hockey, the Garden seats 18,200; for basketball, 19,763; and for concerts 20,000 center stage, 19,522 end-stage. The arena features 20,976 square feet (1949 m²) of arena floor space.
Because all of the seats, except the 400 level, are in one monolithic grandstand, distance from the arena floor is significant from the ends of the arena. Also, the rows rise much more gradually than other North American arenas, which can cause impaired sight lines, especially when sitting behind tall spectators or one of the concourses.

Other venues

Today's Madison Square Garden is more than just the arena. Other venues at the Garden include:

• The WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden, which seats between 2,000 and 5,600 for concerts and can also be used for meetings, stage shows, and graduation ceremonies, and was also the traditional home of the NFL Draft until 2005, when it moved to the Jacob Javits Convention Center after MSG management opposed a new stadium for the New York Jets. It also occasionally hosts major boxing matches on nights when the main arena is unavailable. No seat is more than from the 30' × 64' stage. The theatre has a relatively low ceiling at stage level and all of its seating except for boxes on the two side walls is on one level slanted back from the stage. There is an lobby at the theater. When the current Garden opened in 1968, the Theater was known as the Felt Forum, in honor of then president Irving Felt. In the early 1990s, it was renamed the Paramount to be the successor to the Paramount Theatre in Times Square which had been converted to an office tower (the name change being due to the fact that Paramount Communications (which had previously been known as Gulf+Western) owned the Garden during this period). The theater received its next name of The Theater at Madison Square Garden in the mid-90s, after Viacom bought Paramount, and sold the MSG properties to a group consisting of ITT and Cablevision, which each owned 50% of the Garden. In 1997, ITT sold their share to Cablevision, giving the cable company full control of the venue. The fall 1999 Jeopardy! Teen Tournament as well as a Celebrity Jeopardy! competition were held at the theater. In 2004, it was the venue of the Survivor: All Stars finale. On May 17, 2007, the theater received its current name due to a naming rights deal with Washington Mutual. Since Washington Mutual is no longer a bank after being seized by the Office of Thrift Supervision and FDIC and sold to JP Morgan Chase, the fate of the name is currently unknown. Since 2001, the WaMu Theatre has been the site of the NBA Draft.

• The Expo Center (formerly known as "The Rotunda") is used for trade shows, cat shows, stamp shows, often in combination with the arena, banquets, and receptions.

• A terrace and two restaurants: the Garden Club and the Play-by-Play.

Other corporate operations

In addition to the Garden itself, Madison Square Garden, L.P. also operates two theaters in Manhattan: Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theatre. In 2008, they took over operations of the Chicago Theatre, marking the first time MSG has operated a facility outside New York City area.

Past corporate operations

Madison Square Garden also used to operate the XL Center (formerly known as the Hartford Civic Center) and Rentschler Field under contract with the state of Connecticut until the 2007 season when it was replaced by Northland/Anschutz Entertainment Group.
The XL Center, an indoor arena in Hartford, Connecticut, is home to the Rangers AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. The arena also serves as the part-time home of the men's and women's basketball teams of the University of Connecticut.

Rentschler Field, a stadium in East Hartford, hosts UConn's college football team. It was built for the University of Connecticut after a plan to build a larger stadium that would have accommodated both the Huskies and New England Patriots fell through. It also hosts various concerts and soccer matches.

Renovation

Madison Square Garden was set to be renovated after the 2009-10 hockey season, but was delayed until after the 2010-11 hockey season.

New features include a larger entrance that will include interactive kiosks, retail, climate controlled space, and broadcast studio; larger concourses; new lighting and LED video systems with HDTV; new seating; more dining options; and improved dressing rooms, locker rooms, green rooms, and production offices, among other upgrades. The lower bowl is currently expected to be ready for the 2011-2012 seasons and upper bowl for the 2012-2013 seasons. Renovation will be done in phases with the majority done in the summer months to minimize disruptions and will remain operational throughout the NHL and NBA seasons.

Notable firsts and significant events

Film, television and popular culture

Food court at Madison Square Garden

As an iconic figure, Madison Square Garden has made various appearances in film and television programs. It was featured in the 1979 Robert Redford film The Electric Horseman. Madison Square Garden is featured in the opening scenes of Highlander (1986), which included footage of former tag team The Fabulous Freebirds. (It is worth noting, however, that only the exterior was used; the interior shots were from the then Brendan Byrne Arena). The Garden's marquee is seen in the 1984 comedy film, Top Secret! advertising a concert by the protagonist, Nick Rivers. In 1988 it featured scenes in the cult comedy hit Coming to America. The Madison Square Garden on 50th Street was the scene for the climax of the movie The Manchurian Candidate, starring Frank Sinatra. There are actually a couple of really nice shots of the inside of the Garden.

Several boxing-themed Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies cartoon shorts take place at the "Madison Round Garden", an obvious reference to the actual arena.

Madison Square Garden was the "nest" for the carnivorous Godzilla babies and was later destroyed by F/A-18s in the Americanized version of Godzilla (1998). Madison Square Garden was featured in the films Glitter, Forget Paris, Finding Forrester, and the Adam Sandler remake of Mr. Deeds. In Paternity, Burt Reynolds plays the manager of the Garden. The famous scene from Citizen Kane with Orson Welles standing in front of his giant picture took place in the third Garden (though it was not filmed there).

In the movie Rocky III, the rematch between Clubber Lang and Rocky Balboa is in the Garden.

The American sitcom Friends has used shots of Madison Square Garden several times. In the episode The One with George Stephanopoulos, Chandler, Joey, and Ross go to see a Rangers game, in The One with the Late Thanksgiving, Joey and Ross are late to Thanksgiving dinner because they go to see a Rangers game and in The One Where Rachel's Sister Baby-Sits Mike proposes to Phoebe on the big screen during a Knicks game. The Garden was also frequently featured on Seinfeld, as characters sporadically attended Rangers or Knicks games; David Putty's face-painting as a fan of the New Jersey Devils features the infamous Blue seats.

The 1996 film Eddie starring Whoopi Goldberg, in which die hard Knicks fan Edwina Franklin (Goldberg) becomes the coach of the team, takes place at Madison Square Garden. Interior scenes were filmed inside the Charlotte Coliseum, which was re-dressed to look like the MSG interior.

The arena has also made various appearances on television. The television series Futurama, set in the year 3000, features "Madison Cube Garden" which appears like a cube standing on one partially-buried corner.

In episode 409 of South Park, Something You Can Do With Your Finger, Cartman has a dream where he, Stan, Kyle and Kenny perform there in their boy band dubbed "Fingerbang".

The garden's front rail was frontside boardslided by skateboarder Brian Anderson in Girl Skateboards' Yeah Right!
One of the concert venues in the video game Rock Band is a fictitious New York concert hall called "Empire Square Garden", a clear reference to The Garden.

In the anime Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, the character Ryohei Sasagawa, obsessed with boxing said he always saw stars and the Madison Square Garden, even when it was the afternoon.

Madison Square Garden was also featured in Madonna's 2006 CD/DVD I'm Going to Tell You a Secret. The DVD is a documentary that follows Madonna on her 2004 Re Invention Tour.

A scene in the romantic comedy Hitch takes place at Madison Square Garden during a Knicks basketball game.

In 1985 and then again in 2007, Schwinn introduced a bicycle named the Madison, after the popular Madison Races which originated at the first Madison Square Garden — when located next to Madison Square.

Events