Tor speak Madison Square Garden (MSG) is to talk about the history of sports. The story of sports, music and even politics. Located in the heart of Manhattan, this place with a capacity for almost 20,000 people is the world reference for the celebration of events.
The current complex, which rises above the centrally located Pennsylvania Station, is the fourth MSG in history. The first two, built in 1879 and 1890, were located in Madison Square (hence the name), while the third, built in 1925, was located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and 50th Street, not far from the present.
From ice hockey to basketball to the UFC
During the days we spent in New York for this report, we were able to experience firsthand the enormous capacity of the place to transform in a matter of hours. Just an example will give you a better understanding. Thursday was the turn of ice hockey and the New York Rangers beat the Minnesota Wild on an icy surface that less than 20 hours later had been transformed into a stage where a famous comedian from New York performed. It looked like a different place, but it wasn’t. And that’s how we woke up on Saturday, with the venue staff working around the clock to make way for the comedian’s stage to make way for a spectacular octagon where UFC 295 was supposed to be held. With more capacity, more seats and more lights than before. In short, more show.
El MSG before UFC 235.
But the most surprising thing happened in the 24 hours immediately after the end UFC 295. It was almost 02:00 when the last fans who had attended the evening left Madison Square Garden. However, it was 10:00 (only 8 hours later) when the spectators for the NBA game between the Knicks and the Hornets began to take their seats.
If you haven’t been surprised yet, I must explain that the same Sunday afternoon a new NHL game was played in Madison Square Garden. Basketball at noon and ice hockey at 8 p.m. With all that this entailed in terms of surface changes, accommodation and capacity vacancy and closing and opening of shops corresponding to the various clubs that use MSG for their home games.
Ice never melts
The ice is still there. That’s the first thing you need to know. There are huge cooling machines that maintain the temperature so they don’t melt. When MSG hosts an event away from the NHL, the surface is covered manually with a false floor that allows the basketball court to be installed on it, or the surface on which to install a stage for a big concert or a ring for a boxing match, for example.
The incredible transformation of the retractable turf at the new Santiago Bernabéu
First class VIP area
Visiting the Garden is not cheap. While there are affordable options, you should be prepared to shell out big bucks for whatever event you’re going to see. However, if you have the budget, you can still enjoy a great experience in the VIP area. When you walk through its corridors, you feel that you are leaving a pavilion and entering the corridors of a five-star hotel.
With private boxesfor public figures and all kinds of comfort inside (kitchen, sofas, refreshments…), the view from the ring of boxes will give you the best perspective of the place.
A dressing room for each visitor
As you may have guessed, Madison Square Garden is home to the New York Rangers ice hockey team and the New York Knicks basketball team. And like any good house, everyone has their own space. In fact, one of the most curious points is the “crossroads” at the end of the dressing room tunnel that leads to the court. On the one hand, the Rangers dressing room; on the other, the Knicks.
Don’t imagine something as spacious and luxurious as the dressing rooms of the big European football stadiums. MSG’s walkways contrast with the elegance of the rest of the stadium. They are rather small and unpretentious. In fact, the place to store the sticks is in the corridor outside the Rangers locker room.
MSG VIP area.
House of historical moments
Remember the fight of the century between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, and the happy birthday Marilyn Monroe sang to John F. Kennedy? Everything happened at MSG and everything is captured inside. An enviable photo exhibition captures every moment that MSG has attended along the circular ring that surrounds the center and through which visitors pass shops and fast food places on the way to their seats.
Global inspiration
“Welcome to the most famous pavilion in the world,” says The Garden on its walls. And it probably is. Some of us can put it on the map and it has also served as inspiration for other great places in the world, including the Santiago Bernabeu.
However Real Madrid has the Wizink Center nearby (it hosted almost 200 events last year), MSG is the global reference in this aspect and reaches the first in terms of days of occupation per year with about 300. In the case of the Madrid stadium, their objectives. they are close to those obtained year after year by the Garden and the functionality would be similar, since they seek to host football, basketball, tennis or NFL matches, as well as concerts, conferences or exhibitions.
New York Rangers apparel, NHL.
