What do you do as an arena during the summer when your two main tenants (sorry New York Liberty) are on break? What do you do when one of them is locked out?
You could hold a few concerts and special events. Those are always nice. But in the hustle and bustle of New York, concerts sort of just blend into each other. No, you were built for the grandeur of Knicks basketball and Rangers hockey (sorry, can’t stop laughing at that bit of hyperbole).
The only problem is you, being Madison Square Garden, are one of the oldest and most venerable stadiums in the country, writers wax poetically about you. But compared to other shiny new stadiums, you are just the old codger shouting at the kids to get off his lawn and telling old war stories nobody believed actually happened. You throw a magic trick in there every once in a while — like Reggie Millers eight points in nine seconds — to wow the kids.
Compared to the newer stadiums in the NBA, Madison Square Garden is old. It does not have a lot of the same technological or hospitality amenities that new stadiums like Staples Center, Amway Center and even the Prudential Center in Newark. Soon, New York will see the sparkling new Barclays Arena erected in Brooklyn, challenging MSG’s five-borough dominance.
The challenge for MSG, the owners and operators of the arena that shares its name, is competing with these new stadiums in amenities while maintaining the charm and nostalgia that made it the “Most Famous Arena on Earth.”
Jeremy Olshan of the New York Post reports around-the-clock work has begun on the renovations at Madison Square Garden. They will include replacing the entire lower bowl, making new locker rooms for the Knicks, Rangers and Red Storm of St. John’s. It will also mean the creation of luxury suites for the high rollers that will apparently be nicer than some Manhattan apartments. All part of the effort to update Madison Square Garden.
For some time now, Madison Square Garden has planned a renovation to add some more modern amenities to the venerable arena. They even plan to take it up a notch adding a spectator bridge over the playing surface for Knicks and Rangers game. The drawings of it look pretty cool and ambitious.
It is good to see the Knicks have put that money they are saving to good use.
There are obviously plenty of motivations for Madison Square Garden to make these renovations. From a purely basketball standpoint though it is confusing with the lockout in mind.
The Knicks are one of the few teams that are apparently profitable in the league. It was their overspending that was the posterchild for the problems in the NBA, yet they were profitable because of their market and aura. New player amenities will do wonders to attract free agents under whatever rules the new collective bargaining agreement has.
But unlike small market teams like Orlando, Indiana and Sacramento, where money-making arenas are essential to any hope of profitability, the Knicks have been able to over-spend and be profitable in an arena that is not necessarily up-to-date. But what is old needs to become new at some point. And it is even tougher to remodel city landmarks sometimes.
New Yorkers expect certain amenities and these improvements certainly seem to be catering to a certain group of fans. It will be important to see Madison Square Garden maintain its high-school, “did-you-see-that” atmosphere that big events at the Garden engender.
Madison Square Garden will be a new venue when teams return from the lockout — whenever that is. Hopefully it keeps its aura… and maybe a postseason team.
