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American holding company in New York City From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sphere Entertainment Co. is an American entertainment holding company based in New York City, and controlled by the family of Charles Dolan. It owns the Sphere event venue in Paradise, Nevada, in the Las Vegas Valley and New York-based regional sports network chain MSG Networks.
Formerly | Madison Square Garden Entertainment |
---|---|
Company type | Public |
NYSE: SPHR (Class A) | |
Industry | entertainment real estate |
Founded | April 20, 2020 |
Founder | James L. Dolan |
Headquarters | New York City, New York, U.S. |
Key people | James L. Dolan (Executive chairman and CEO) Jennifer Koester (President and COO) |
Owner | Dolan family |
Subsidiaries |
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The company was originally formed in 2020 as Madison Square Garden Entertainment, a spin-off of the non-sports assets of the Madison Square Garden Company. In 2023, Madison Square Garden Entertainment spun off its live events business as a new company under the same name, and the original MSG Entertainment was renamed Sphere Entertainment.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment was first formed in 2020 as a spin-off of the non-sports assets of the Madison Square Garden Company (which was renamed Madison Square Garden Sports as a result).[1][2] In 2021, it would acquire sibling company MSG Networks (which had been spun off from the Madison Square Garden Company in 2015).[3]
In March 2023, MSG Entertainment's board approved a plan to spin off its "traditional" live entertainment business, leaving its regional sports networks and forthcoming Sphere venue in Las Vegas. Executive chairman and CEO James L. Dolan stated that the spin-off would result in two companies "well positioned to generate long-term value for our shareholders."[4]
The spin-off was structured as a tax-free stock split, in which MSG Entertainment shareholders would receive one share in the events company for each share they own, and hold a 33% stake. The spin-off was completed on April 20, 2023, with the live events business being spun off under the Madison Square Garden Entertainment name, and the existing MSG Entertainment being renamed Sphere Entertainment.[5][6]
Sphere briefly included MSGE's nearly 67% stake in hospitality company Tao Group; on April 18, 2023, Mark Scheinberg's Mohari acquired the stake for $550 million.[7][8]
In November 2023, CFO Gautam Ranji resigned.[9] In June 2024, Sphere executive Jennifer Koester was promoted to president and chief operating officer.[10]
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