James Dolan on Thursday turned to a longtime rival to handle all sponsorship deals for his Madison Square Garden empire, including the soon-to-open MSG Sphere in Las Vegas.
The Knicks and Rangers owner teamed with entertainment giant Oak View Group, co-founded by Dolan’s former business partner partner Irving Azoff to create a new company, Crown Properties Collection, the group told The Post.
Oak View owns or operates more than 300 venues including the UBS Arena on Long Island and will combine the 200 people in its sponsorship division with the 40 to 50 working at MSG.
“This is the largest sponsorship sports and facilities deal ever done,” Oak View CEO Tim Leiweke told The Post.
“The Garden used to drive me crazy and we competed with them, so now imagine my joy of being part of the MSG family,” Leiweke said.
The surprise partnership comes as Dolan seeks corporate dollars for his various venues, most specifically for the $2.2 billion Sphere as the state-of-the-art venue readies to finally open Sept. 29, a source close to the situation said.
Dolan, who owns Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall among other smaller venues, is seeking roughly $40 million a year for a Sphere naming partner, Leiweke said.
“That’s the range for the top arenas in the country like Madison Square Garden,” he said, adding that the new company’s main focus is The Sphere.
“It’s a very clever concept and it takes a little imagination,” said Leiweke.
He said he expects to get sponsorships for both outside and inside the venue.
Azoff, the legendary booker who is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has worked with Dolan for more than 10 years in different capacities and is the manager for U2. The iconic band will open the Sphere and has been booked for 25 shows, The Post previously reported.
The pair had formed Azoff MSG Entertainment in 2013 to create opportunities for artists, purchasing The Forum in Los Angeles. Azoff bought out Dolan’s share in the partnership in 2018.
Oak View, meanwhile, is building its own 20,000-seat arena down the Strip from The Sphere.
Leiweke played down any conflict between the venues.
“We are building an arena built for sports, built for music tours. That is not why Jim built The Sphere,” Leiweke said.
Leiweke pointed to the futuristic Sphere as an optimal venue for residencies that presents great sales opportunity because of its amazing exteriors that blast out 360-degree visuals — including recently a massive basketball — to its very high-resolution screens.
Crown Properties will be paid a commission based on the deals it gets for Dolan’s properties, Leiweke said.
For now, Crown will not focus on getting acts signed for Dolan’s arenas, but that could evolve over time considering that Azoff is part of Oak View, Leiweke said.
“Eventually this will play out into a much bigger story,” Leiweke said when asked if Oak View might eventually become a bigger partner of MSG.
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