Madison Square
Garden -
New York City
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Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG, known colloquially
simply as The Garden, has been the name of four arenas in New York
City, United States. It is also the name of the entity which owns the
arena, and several of the professional sports franchises which play
there.
The first two were located at
Madison Square, thus the name. Subsequently a new 20,000-seat Garden
was built at 50th Street and 8th Avenue, and the current Garden is at
7th Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of
Pennsylvania Station.
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The first two were located at
Madison Square, thus the name. Subsequently a new 20,000-seat Garden was
built at 50th Street and 8th Avenue, and the current Garden is at 7th Avenue
between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station. The
present arena is informally known to some by its advertising slogan, "The
World's Most Famous Arena".
The arena lends its name to the Madison Square Garden Network, a cable
television network that broadcasts most sporting events that are held in the
Garden.
The Garden is best known as the
home of the New York Knicks of the NBA and New York Rangers of the NHL. The
aforementioned professional sports teams play their home matches in the
arena and are owned by the Garden itself. It also hosts New York Liberty (WNBA)
home games, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus when it comes
to New York City, home games for the St. John's Red Storm (college
basketball), the annual pre and postseason NIT tournaments, the NBA Draft,
and almost any other kind of indoor activity that draws large audiences,
such as the 2004 Republican National Convention. It has previously hosted
the 1976, 1980 and 1992 Democratic National Conventions. World Wrestling
Entertainment considers it its home arena as well, hosting three
WrestleManias, three Summerslams, two Survivor Series, and the 2000 Royal
Rumble. The Garden hosts 320 events a year.
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MSG is
also known for its place in the history of boxing. Many of boxing's
biggest fights were held at Madison Square Garden, including many of
Joe Louis, the Roberto Duran-Ken Buchanan affair, and the first and
second Joe Frazier-Muhammad Ali bouts. Before promoters such as Don
King and Bob Arum moved boxing to Las Vegas, Madison Square Garden was
considered the mecca of boxing.
Most large popular-music concerts in New York City take place in
Madison Square Garden. Particularly famous ones include The Concert
for New York City following the September 11 attacks and John Lennon's
final concert before his murder in 1980. |
Many musical acts released
seminal live albums from MSG, including Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen,
Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel, Phish, and Elvis Presley. Pearl Jam released a
DVD of a concert at the Garden.
The arena is also used for other special events, including Tennis, Circus,
and Wrestling events. The New York Police Academy also holds its annual
graduation ceremony for new officers at Madison Square Garden. It has become
the New York site of the annual Grammy Awards, (which are normally held in
Los Angeles) and hosted the 2005 Country Music Association Awards (normally
held in Nashville).
The Big East Conference men's basketball tournament has been held at MSG
every year since 1983. |
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