Venue Spotlight

Madison Square Garden

Location: New York City, New York

Opening Day: February 11, 1968

Capacity: 20,789

Teams: New York Knicks, New York Rangers, St, John’s Redstorm

Construction Cost: $1.1 Billion

Website: https://www.msg.com/madison-square-garden

Sitting atop Penn station in Midtown Manhattan is the arena deemed “The World’s Most Famous Arena”, Madison Square Garden (MSG). The current version of MSG is actually the fourth arena to don the famous name. MSG is home to the Knicks and Rangers, but it has also played host to many iconic musical performances like John Lennon’s final live appearance and Billy Joel’s record setting sold out tour of 12 consecutive shows. Billy Joel is also the only non-athlete to have his number 12 retired and hanging in the arena’s rafters. If you look to the ceiling in MSG, you will find it different than most arenas. The ceiling is a concave shape, opposed to most arenas which have convex ceilings. It also features acoustic insulation for amazing sound during concerts, and wires attached to a center support ring instead of steel beams, so almost all views are unobstructed. Madison Square Garden is the mecca of sports arenas and it’s hard to beat watching live events in this iconic building.