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Madison Square Garden Unveils Phase II of Arena's Top-to-Bottom Transformation

By: Nov. 02, 2012
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Madison Square Garden unveils today the second phase of the Arena's historic, three-year top-to-bottom Transformation. The New York Knicks will take the court against the Miami Heat tonight for the first event in the newly transformed Arena. Construction on the second phase of the Transformation began on May 26. During the offseason shutdown more than 1000 construction workers worked around the clock to transform the upper bowl of the Arena.

Phase II of The Garden Transformation includes a completely new seating configuration in the upper bowl of the Arena, offering larger, more comfortable seats and significantly improved sightlines as the incline for the upper bowl increases 17 degrees, moving fans seven to 10 feet, or nearly three rows, closer to the action. The new expanded Garden Concourse (8th floor) includes city views in select areas, additional restrooms and retail locations, and new first-class food and beverage options. Final work was completed on the Madison Concourse (6th floor), including the addition of an homage to The Garden's 133 year history with the "Garden 366" visual retrospective showcasing a moment in Garden history for every day of the year, and special exhibits celebrating 10 of the 20 top "Defining Moments" at The Garden. The second 10 "Defining Moments" will debut next season on the Garden Concourse. The new Lexus Madison Suite Level (7th floor) features 58 new Madison Level Suites that will open throughout the 2012-13 seasons, along with the new Madison Club presented by Foxwoods, both located as close as 23 rows away from the action. The Madison Club presented by Foxwoods is a new all-inclusive, membership-only club that includes access to more than 100 sporting events held at The Garden.

The first phase of the Transformation debuted in fall 2011 and included a completely transformed lower bowl of the Arena, with new larger, more comfortable seating and the expanded Madison Concourse with new amenities for fans. New open areas on the east and west side of the 8th floor and the West Balcony (10th floor) provide fans with direct views into the Arena bowl, as well as new seating, walkways and concession stands. The new Event Level Suites, Delta Sky360 Club and 1879 Club Presented by J.P. Morgan also debuted during the 2011-12 seasons. The third and final phase of the Transformation will be unveiled in fall 2013 when the two spectacular new Chase Bridges and the new expanded Chase Square entrance off 7th Avenue will debut. In addition, the final phase will include the new Budweiser Fan Deck (10th floor), state-of-the-art GardenVision center-hung scoreboard, 18 completely remodeled Garden Suites (9th floor) and a restoration of the iconic Garden ceiling.

Work on the Transformation will continue to be a year-round project, sequenced to maximize construction efforts during the remaining offseason shutdown in 2013. For more information on the MSG Transformation, visit www.msg.com/transformation to see a complete timeline of the project and receive construction updates.

The Madison Square Garden Company is a fully-integrated sports, media and entertainment business. The Company is comprised of three business segments: MSG Sports, MSG Media and MSG Entertainment, which are strategically aligned to work together to drive the Company's overall business, which is built on a foundation of iconic venues and compelling content that the company creates, produces, presents and/or distributes through its programming networks and other media assets. MSG Sports owns and operates the following sports franchises: the New York Knicks (NBA), the New York Rangers (NHL), the New York Liberty (WNBA), and the Connecticut Whale (AHL). MSG Sports also features the presentation of a wide variety of live sporting events including professional boxing, college basketball, track and field and tennis. MSG Media is a leader in production and content development for multiple distribution platforms, including content originating from the Company's venues. MSG Media's television networks consist of regional sports networks, MSG Network and MSG+, collectively referred to as MSG Networks; and Fuse, a national television network dedicated to music. MSG Networks also include high-definition channels, MSG HD and MSG+ HD, and Fuse includes its high-definition channel, Fuse HD. MSG Entertainment is one of the country's leaders in live entertainment. MSG Entertainment creates, produces and/or presents a variety of live productions, including the Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the Radio City Rockettes. MSG Entertainment also presents or hosts other live entertainment events such as concerts, family shows and special events in the Company's diverse collection of venues. These venues consist of Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, the Beacon Theatre, the Chicago Theatre, the Forum in Inglewood, CA, and the Wang Theatre in Boston, MA. More information is available at www.themadisonsquaregardencompany.com.




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