Sponsorship & Marketing

Verizon signs wide-ranging deal with MSG companies

Featured image credit: Pedro Bariak on Unsplash

Verizon has signed an expanded partnership with the Madison Square Garden family of companies.

Verizon will serve as the official mobile wireless partner of MSG Sports, MSG Entertainment and Sphere Entertainment.

The company will benefit from brand exposure across the Madison Square Garden arena in New York, the Sphere in Las Vegas and other MSG-owned venues. The agreement also covers the NBA’s New York Knicks and the NHL’s New York Rangers.

Verizon and MSG Entertainment will team up to create two branded hospitality spaces at Madison Square Garden. The Verizon Club and the Verizon Lounge at The Theater at MSG will be open to select Verizon customers across a range of live events each year.

A new premium platform, Verizon Access, will provide Verizon customers with exclusive access to select tickets for concerts and comedy shows at Radio City Music Hall, Beacon Theatre, The Theater at MSG and The Chicago Theatre, as well as live events at Madison Square Garden that are part of the Arena Concert Series.

At the Sphere, Verizon customers will also have access to select tickets for all concerts at the venue, as well as the arena’s original content.

Verizon’s Sphere integrations began on July 4 with a Fourth of July celebration on the Exosphere, the arena’s exterior LED screen. A 10-minute show incorporated 500 drones and marked the launch of the XO Stream and XO Audio experiences.

Josephine Vaccarello, executive vice-president of live at MSG Entertainment, said: “This is a landmark partnership for the MSG family of companies and Verizon, bringing together a diverse portfolio of premier global brands that share a commitment to providing exceptional experiences for customers. We look forward to offering Verizon customers exclusive tickets to events across our legendary venues in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas via their new Verizon Access platform.”

Nick Kelly, vice-president of partnerships at Verizon, added: “Our partnership with the MSG family of companies provides Verizon customers with premium access to the most iconic venues and events in sports and entertainment. This expanded collaboration will elevate the fan experience and keep people connected in-venue through the power of Verizon’s 5G technology.”