The venue and live experiences firm began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.
As Madison Square Garden completes its spin off of its entertainment assets from its sports teams, the Hollywood side is adding to its executive ranks.
The newly formed MSG Entertainment Corp has hired Mark FitzPatrick as its chief financial officer, reporting to CEO James Dolan. The exec joins the company from WeWork, where he served deputy chief financial officer since 2016. Earlier, he worked at Time Warner Cable in multiple finance roles for a decade beginning in 2006.
MSG Entertainment consists of venues that include its namesake New York arena, Tao Hospitality group as well as Radio City Music Hall, the Upper West Side's Beacon Theatre as well as The Chicago Theatre, among other locations.
On March 24, the NBA's Clippers owner Steve Ballmer acquired Los Angeles arena The Forum from MSG in a $400 million cash deal. MSG Entertainment is also currently in construction on an arena in Las Vegas titled the MSG Sphere that the company says won't make its scheduled opening of 2021 due to "coronavirus-related disruptions."
Earlier this month, on April 6, the company noted that "virtually all of our business operations are shut down and it is not clear when those operations will resume" due to the novel coronavirus pandemic that has limited public gatherings. MSG disclosed that it will "continue to be impacted throughout the month of May. We are not recognizing any revenue from those events and it is unclear whether and to what extent those events will be rescheduled."
After the spinoff, MSG Sports consists of NBA's New York Knicks, NHL's New York Rangers as well as esports organization Counter Logic Gaming.
"While the current environment presents significant challenges to our industry, we are confident in the future, and look forward to MSG Entertainment building on its reputation as a leader in live experiences," stated Dolan on Monday.
The MSG mogul added, "We are also very pleased to welcome Mark, a talented corporate finance executive who brings extensive experience working with well-known companies. We believe he is the ideal executive to help guide MSG Entertainment as we continue to pursue excellence across our operations."
