This was an incredibly bizarre interview.
James Dolan, CEO and executive chairman of MSG Entertainment Corp., gave a rare and extensive interview earlier Thursday afternoon.
Dolan sat down for a 17-minute segment on FOX’s Good Day New York.
He covered an expansive range of topics ranging from his controversial use of facial recognition technology, ticket resellers and TicketMaster, the Bill of Rights, crime in New York City, the success of the New York Rangers and the health of Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson.
It was a wild interview that was a must-listen for those who plan to attend any games at Madison Square Garden or have privacy concerns about the future of citizen surveillance.
Here is what he said about his facial recognition technology policies:
“Facial recognition is just a technology. I mean, when I walked into the studio, did you recognize my face? Facial recognition. Technology just makes you better at it. The real issue that’s going on here is our policy of not letting attorneys who are suing us into our building until they’re done suing us.”
Dolan then changed the topic for an irrelevant game of whataboutism centered on bail reform in New York.
He added that Madison Square Garden is a private company, though it is worth noting that it receives about $40 million in tax breaks every year.
Later in the segment, he was adamant that he was not going to back down from his policy about using facial recognition technology.
“It’s not only business. If you’ve been sued you know that it’s a personal thing. At Madison Square Garden, if you’re suing us, we’re just asking you: ‘Please don’t come until you’re done with your argument.’ And yes, we’re using facial recognition to enforce that. … What facial recogntion does is recognizes your face and says are you someone who’s on this list.
…
“It’s very, very useful for security. In fact, Madison Square Garden, I believe, is the most secure venue in the country. … A bakery, a restaurant, you get to say who you serve for whatever reason.
…
“If there is someone you don’t want to serve, you get to say I don’t want to serve you and if it’s somebody who is suing you or put you out of business or take your money from you, you have a right to be a little unhappy about it.”
He was also asked about reports that New York State Liquor Authority was threatening to take away the liquor license from the venue as a disciplinary action following his ban on several lawyers.
His answer about how he planned to handle this was incredibly shocking:
“They’re being extremely aggressive. They’re saying: ‘We’re going to take away your liquor license.’ So I have a little surprise for them because they’re basically doing this for publicity. So we’re going to give them some publicity. What we’re going to do is we’re going to pick a night, maybe a Rangers game, and we’re going to shut down all the liquor and alcohol in the building. Now this isn’t going to bother me because I’ve been sober 29 years. I don’t need the liquor.
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“If you’re grandstanding with the press and threatening my liquor license, I’m going to tell you, ‘You know what? Go ahead. Take away my liquor license.’ People are still going to come to the games. We don’t make all our money on alcohol. Like I said, I’m sober. I’m not a big alcohol fan.”
Dolan said at the stations where the venue typically sells liquor, they will instead have signs with the photo, phone number and email address of the CEO of the NY SLA.
He said that he wants the public to tell the SLA to start working on the “things that matter” like law enforcement. He also criticized New York’s Clean Slate Act.
It is hard to imagine a scenario in which he issues a self-imposed ban on liquor at MSG and it goes well with the fans, but this has now become a developing situation worth following.
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