Senior Analyst Internal Audit

MSG entertainment revenue jumps 13% to $1.06 billion in fiscal 2026. NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) - Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (MSGE) closed fiscal 2026 with revenue topping $1 billion as strong concert activity at Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks' championship run, and another record year for the Christmas Spectacular helped drive growth. For the fiscal year ended June 30, MSGE reported revenue of $1.061 billion, up $118.1 million, or 13%, from $942.7 million a year earlier. Operating income increased 16% to $141.5 million, while adjusted operating income rose 18% to $262.2 million. Net income reached $66.2 million, compared with $37.4 million in fiscal 2025. The company welcomed approximately 6.4 million guests across nearly 960 events during the year. Those events included concerts, family shows, special events, and sports, along with New York Knicks and New York Rangers games at Madison Square Garden. Concerts were a major part of the increase. Concert revenue grew by $33.4 million for the year, driven by more shows at Madison Square Garden and higher revenue per concert. That growth was partly offset by fewer concerts at the company's theaters. The Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes also delivered another record-setting season. More than 1.2 million tickets were sold for 215 paid performances, compared with about 1.1 million tickets across 200 performances the previous year. Revenue from the production increased by $20.9 million, helped by the additional shows, stronger attendance and higher average ticket prices. Other live entertainment and sporting event revenue increased by $13.2 million, while venue-related sponsorship, signage and suite license revenue rose by $10.9 million. Food, beverage and merchandise revenue also benefited from increased activity at The Garden. "Today's results reflect the strong demand we continue to see for our live entertainment offerings. Looking ahead, we are well positioned to drive solid growth in adjusted operating income in fiscal '27 and remain confident in our ability to deliver long-term shareholder value," Executive Chairman and CEO James L. Dolan said. MSGE also finished the year with $294.2 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, up sharply from $43.5 million at the end of fiscal 2025. Cash provided by operating activities increased to $351.4 million from $115.3 million. For the fourth quarter, revenue jumped 27% year over year to $196.3 million. The company posted an operating loss of $8.6 million, an improvement from a $25.8 million loss in the year-ago period. Adjusted operating income reached $18.6 million, compared with an adjusted operating loss of $1.3 million a year earlier. Fourth-quarter concert revenue increased by $22.7 million as The Garden hosted more concerts and generated higher revenue per show. Food, beverage, and merchandise revenue increased 22% to $32.2 million during the quarter. MSGE's venue portfolio includes Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, Beacon Theatre, Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden, and The Chicago Theatre.

New York City lawmakers push to 'ban the Scan' at MSG. At a press conference outside Madison Square Garden, politicians, musicians, and privacy advocates argued for tighter restrictions on how public venues deploy biometric surveillance. Privacy advocates and musicians rallied outside Madison Square Garden on Friday, pushing for new legislation to prevent facial-recognition technology at the venue and other public spaces in New York City. "MSG and its CEO, James Dolan, have been flagrantly abusing biotechnology," City Council member Shahana Hanif said at the event on Friday, after leading a chant of "ban the scan." In January, Hanif proposed a bill that would prohibit public venues from using biometric recognition tech such as Madison Square Garden's facial-recognition systems. Madison Square Garden is well-known for its biometric data collection practices. As WIRED has previously reported, fans who are critical of Dolan or the New York Knicks can end up on watch lists, their faces filed in MSG's extensive database. In one instance, MSG security tracked the movements of a specific fan at a Knicks game down to the minute, cataloging their movements, who they spoke with, when they ate, and where they sat. Hundreds of lawyers involved in disputes with Dolan or Dolan-owned properties have been banned from Dolan's venues, including a mother who was blocked from taking her daughter to a Radio City Music Hall show. In July, WIRED reported that MSG also maintains a database that assigns risk scores to around 400 celebrities and VIPs. Some of the dossiers also include the race and sexual orientation of those who attend the arena. MSG filed a defamation lawsuit against WIRED later that month. At the rally on Friday, Hanif was joined by Brooklyn-based country musician Paisley Fields, a representative from the democratic-socialist working group NYC DSA Tech Action, and members of the digital rights advocacy group Fight for the Future. Hanif's "Ban the Scan" bill now has 27 endorsements, more than half of the City Council. Members are in talks with speaker Julie Menin about advancing the legislation, according to Hanif. "People have been recognizing each other's faces since the beginning of time - we just do it electronically," an MSG spokesperson said in an emailed statement. Hanif tells WIRED that, as a Muslim who grew up in post-9/11 New York, surveillance isn't new. However, she says, many may not understand the extent of the surveillance that they're exposed to simply by attending a Knicks game or a concert at Madison Square Garden or one of its associated venues. The fact that Dolan, who has a long relationship with President Donald Trump, is the one collecting the data worries Hanif even more. "New Yorkers need to understand, right now, between AI and all these tools that are being sold to us as being for... our city's safety, are actually making us less safe," Hanif says.

COUNCIL MEMBER SHAHANA HANIF, ADVOCATES RALLY AT MSG TO DEMAND BAN ON FACIAL RECOGNITION TECH | View this email in your browser | | For Immediate Release | COUNCIL MEMBER SHAHANA HANIF, ADVOCATES RALLY AT MSG TO DEMAND BAN ON FACIAL RECOGNITION TECH Following Progressive Caucus endorsement of Ban the Scan, bill sponsor Council Member Hanif and coalition allies rally outside Madison Square Garden NEW YORK, NY - Today, New York City Council Member Shahana Hanif joined privacy advocates, artists, organizers, and New Yorkers to demand an end to the use of biometric surveillance in places of public accommodation and call on the City Council to pass her bill Ban the Scan, Int. 213. The rally, organized with the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), Fight for the Future, NYC DSA Tech Action, the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, musician and artist Cristy Roads, country musician Paisley Fields, and others, comes amid renewed scrutiny of Madison Square Garden's use of facial recognition technology. MSG's flagrant abuse of the technology to ban critics and violate the privacy of visitors perfectly illustrates the inherent danger of mass biometric surveillance. CEO James Dolan's surveillance controversies have been producing outrage for years, with the latest reporting highlighting the enhanced privacy experienced by wealthy patrons. "Madison Square Garden has shown us exactly what happens when corporations are allowed to deploy facial recognition without meaningful limits: they use it to track, profile, and blacklist people they don't like," said Council Member Shahana Hanif. "Your face should not be a tool that a corporation can use to punish you for exercising your rights. We have the opportunity to stop this abuse in New York City. It is time for the Council to pass Ban the Scan." The need for action is particularly urgent as biometric surveillance becomes increasingly commonplace in private businesses and public-facing spaces in NYC. Advocates warn that sensitive information - including people's faces, names, and voices - can be vulnerable to misuse, data breaches, or access by law enforcement agencies. This summer, a cyberattack exposed sensitive visitor information, including biometric data collected through MSG's facial-recognition and surveillance systems. This breach demonstrates the danger of allowing private companies to amass vast troves of sensitive biometric information without strong limits on its collection and retention. The coalition also highlighted growing opposition from artists and venues. Hundreds of artists and venues have pledged not to use facial recognition technology at concerts, demonstrating that entertainment and public safety do not require invasive biometric surveillance. "No one should have to surrender their personal privacy in order to watch their favorite sports team," said Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine. "Intro 213 would prohibit providers of public accommodation - like sports arenas - from using biometric data to identify you in public and would ensure your biometric data isn't sold. This kind of mass surveillance opens the door to abuse and discrimination, making consumers in our city uniquely vulnerable. It's time to ban the scan and protect New Yorkers' privacy and civil rights." "Buying a ticket to Madison Square Garden shouldn't mean checking your civil liberties or your right to privacy at the door. Facial recognition technology is invasive, ripe for abuse, and has reportedly already been used to profile New Yorkers based on their gender identity and sexual orientation," said Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal. "In the State Senate, I was proud to sponsor legislation to prohibit law enforcement from using facial recognition and other biometric surveillance technology. New Yorkers deserve those same basic protections when they walk into a venue to see a concert, a Knicks game, or a Rangers game. I applaud Council Member Hanif for leading the charge on this legislation and urge the Council to pass it swiftly. New Yorkers shouldn't have to sacrifice their privacy for a night out." "New Yorkers love the Knicks, but they sure as hell don't love having their biometric data captured when visiting the Garden," said New York City Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Sandy Nurse. "Everyone has the right to privacy and deserves the basic respect of not having their sensitive information taken and stored, let alone by a private corporation. It's time to Ban the Scan and protect New Yorkers from surveillance in public spaces." "No one wants this. Artists and fans have resoundingly rejected facial recognition at venues, and now we need lawmakers to make it official by banning facial recognition surveillance in places of public accommodation, including bars, stores, and music and sports venues like Madison Square Garden," said Evan Greer (she/her), director of Fight for the Future. "Bullies like James Dolan make the dangers of facial recognition explicitly clear. Going to a show should not be conditioned on being subjected to invasive, racially biased monitoring that puts fans at risk of getting harassed, falsely arrested, deported, or worse." "We should not have to give up our faces to attend a basketball game," said Raaid Arshad, NYC DSA Tech Action Working Group. "We should not have to let our gaits be analyzed just to buy a toothbrush. And, we should not be locked out of our homes or unfairly evicted because facial recognition tools can't recognize our black and brown skin tones. We must Ban the Scan in New York City." "Surveilling, tracking, and storing information on anyone entering MSG is not safety, it's intimidation and control," said Daniel Schwarz, Senior Privacy & Technology Strategist at the New York Civil Liberties Union. "For years, James Dolan's Madison Square Garden has weaponized biometric recognition and other forms of surveillance against all its patrons, exposing New Yorkers to retaliation, harassment, invasive monitoring, chilling speech, and putting people at risk of data breaches. Dolan must rectify these disgusting practices by immediately ceasing these spying operations, and the City Council must urgently pass Intro. 213 to prohibit businesses from deploying biometric surveillance on all of us." "Public facial recognition sparks the normalization of invasive government control, in a society that has become complacent to an already suffocating surveillance culture," said Cristy Road Carrera, Author, Artist, Musician. "The cloud, face id, apple watch, location tracking, the rise of AI, meta algorithms, meta glasses - they all contribute to the framework of a larger war." "When people come to my show I want them to feel like they are part of a community, to feel safe and welcome," said Paisley Fields, Musician. "Somewhere they can be themselves. The use of this technology will do the opposite of that. I don't see a way that facial recognition technology and ai surveillance in venues can be used in a way that is ethical and safe for my community." "Facial recognition technology and other forms of biometric surveillance are more likely to negatively impact New Yorkers of color," said Nina Loshkajian, Technology & Racial Justice Collaborative Fellow at the Center on Race, Inequality & the Law. "Given the proven higher error rates of the technology when identifying darker-skinned individuals, and the risk of increased deployment in neighborhoods of color, allowing this practice in New York City is akin to condoning a new form of algorithmic exclusion." "For years, MSG owner James Dolan has doubled down on using facial recognition to scan everyone entering his venues and ban individuals he dislikes," said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Michelle Dahl. "Dolan is just one high-profile example, however, and we don't know how many New Yorkers have been denied entry to stores, sports games, and other public accommodations based on biometric tracking. From Citifield to Wegmans, facial recognition has spread rapidly across our city, threatening the privacy and dignity of New Yorkers going about our daily lives. We shouldn't have to hand over our faces to cheer on the Knicks, catch a concert, or pick up groceries. It's long past time the City Council pass Intro. 0213 to ban the scan in public accommodations." The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Its work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color. -END- | | Copyright (C) 2026 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.