Madison Square Garden Has Massive Database of Celebs Who Attend Knicks Games and Gives Them a ‘Risk Score’: Report

Ryan Murphy/AP

Madison Square Garden reportedly keeps a database of celebrities who attend New York Knicks games, and each one is given a “risk score.”

Madison Square Garden Sports CEO and Knicks owner James Dolan has previously come under scrutiny for the extensive use of surveillance technology at his properties. In 2023, New York Democrats threatened to strip MSG of its property tax exemption over the venue’s use of facial recognition technology; and earlier this year, it was revealed that Dolan’s company kept a database of biometric data and even tracked the movements of specific guests.

A Thursday report from WIRED revealed that the MSG also keeps a database of celebrity guests. Some of them were given a “risk score,” which was determined by numerous factors. The report read:

A source with knowledge of the matter tells WIRED that Garden security has performed social media sweeps for prominent people looking for complimentary tickets to games. If you’re a celebrity and you’re marked with a risk score—even as a low risk—it means “you’ve done something in the publicity world, the social media world, that has caught the attention of the wrong people,” the source continues. The talent database, which has entries dating back to December 2020 and includes updates as recent as early June of this year, makes repeated reference to “SM concerns.” Physical security threats—potential harms to people or property—are documented in a separate database, the source says. (The source adds that these sorts of databases are common at arenas.)

The source told WIRED the database was a “really, really paranoid, terrible system.”

Some entries in the database have additional labels. As noted in the report, hip hop producer Pete Rock is marked as “DO NOT HOST.” That label came after he criticized Dolan for his treatment of Knicks legend Charles Oakley. Rapper Lil Tjay, the database indicated, was outright banned from MSG.

Other entries noted the sexual orientation of the VIPs, with more than 90 having the label “LGBTQIA.”

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