Madison Square Garden to offer a fans a unique perspective
Madison Square Garden, home to the NBA’s New York Knicks and the NHL’s New York Rangers, is set to offer fans a unique perspective to watch basketball and hockey. When renovations to MSG,
also known as ‘The Garden’, are completed in 2013, spectator bridges will hang from the ceiling, giving fans a bird’s-eye view of the games.
"They'll be like no other seat in professional sports or entertainment," MSG President Hank Ratner told USA Today.
Ratner said the unique view the seats will afford is unprecedented. But he did come up with one comparison. "I think probably the Green Monster [at the Boston Red Sox's Fenway Park] is
the only thing you could come to making the comparison. But these are going to take it up a notch -- because you're on bridges."
MSG opened in 1968 and is the oldest NHL arena and the second-oldest NBA venue, with only the Oracle Arena in Oakland predating it. In terms of ticket sales, it is the third-busiest arena
in the world, after two British sites, the O2 arena in London and the M.E.N. arena in Manchester. The renovation, which will begin in 2011 and wrap up two years later, is expected to cost between $775 million and $850 million. Along with the installation of
the spectator bridges, the entrance, concourses, and seating will also be redone.
Concerns about fan safety have ramped up in recent days after a two-year-old died after falling from a luxury suite at a Los Angeles Lakers game. The death of Lucas Anthony Tang, who fell
30 feet, has been ruled an accident.
When Ratner was asked about safety concerns regarding the spectator bridges, he wouldn’t talk specifically about the death of Tang but did make clear that the safety of the fans is of
utmost importance. "Safety is of paramount and utmost concern in everything we do here."
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