Since Wednesday, the Big East has sold out its men’s basketball tournament games at Madison Square Garden. That is not unusual. The event has routinely had sellouts since it came to MSG in 1983, and that will likely continue for at least several more years.
Before Friday night’s semifinals, the Big East announced that it had struck a deal with MSG to hold the tournament at the venue through 2032, which will be the 50th anniversary of the event at the Garden. The previous contract was set to expire in 2028.
Joel Fisher, MSG’s executive vice president of marquee events and operations, expects the event to be held at the Garden beyond 2032.
“Trust me,” he said on Friday. “It will be more than 50 years.”
Big East commissioner Val Ackerman on Friday called the partnership between the league and MSG “a match made in heaven” and added “the building is an enormous part of who we are.”
Ackerman said in an interview last month that the Big East generates about 25% of its gross revenue from the men’s basketball tournament via ticket sales, corporate partnerships and the national television deal with Fox
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The Fox deal is set to expire next year, but Ackerman said on Friday that she expects to have details on a new television contract soon. Puck’s John Ourand reported on Thursday that the Big East had been “making a lot of progress in its renewal talks” with Fox and CBS. Fox sublicenses some games to CBS. Ourand also wrote that “I hear the conference is holding out one more package for a third media partner.”
After its formation in 1979, the Big East played its first three tournaments in Providence, Syracuse and Hartford before heading to MSG for the first time in 1983, fulfilling founder and former commissioner Dave Gavitt’s vision of playing at the arena.
“I call it a love affair between the Big East and Madison Square Garden,” Mike Tranghese, Gavitt’s first hire at the Big East in 1979 and the conference’s commissioner from 1990 to 2009, said in an interview last month. “Going to the Garden is truly one of the two or three most important events in the history of the Big East being as successful as it has been.”
When the Big East split in two in 2013, the seven schools that did not have major football programs insisted during negotiations that they retain the Big East name and continue holding the men’s basketball tournament at MSG. Fisher, who has worked at MSG since the mid-1980s, was onboard and happy to continue the relationship. Still, he wondered if the new Big East would remain a big draw at MSG, but that is no longer the case.
“To me, to all of us, it’s better (than before the split),” Fisher said on Friday.
In 2018, the Big Ten held its men’s basketball tournament at MSG for the first time, but it has not been back since. Fisher said in an interview last month that other leagues had contacted MSG about holding their tournaments at the arena. Although he said he is open to listening to offers, he insisted the Big East would remain having the marquee dates for its tournament, which is always held right before the NCAA tournament’s Selection Sunday.
“I’m so fortunate to work at the Garden because there’s so many great events,” Fisher said in the interview last month. “But I’d be lying if I didn’t say that college basketball and the Big East tournament isn’t one of our favorite events. To see this building packed is really special.”
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