James Dolan, the multi-hyphenate sports and music mogul, just signed a three-year contract extension with the companies he and his family control: MSG Sports, MSG Entertainment, and Sphere Entertainment. All three companies disclosed the new deals over the past few weeks, with Sphere filing the extension just before the fourth of July. With these deals, Dolan makes it clear that the rumors of retirement were just that: unsubstantiated rumors. And he isn’t going anywhere.
Each of these companies is significant within its own arena. MSG Sports is the owner of both the New York Knicks of the NBA and the New York Rangers of the NHL. MSG Entertainment operates several high-level entertainment venues, including Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, and The Beacon Theater. Sphere Entertainment bridges the gap between these two, owning and operating the Sphere in Las Vegas, and managing MSG Networks, which televises Knicks and Rangers Games. Through these ventures, even outside of his career as a professional musician, Dolan has remained one of the leading forces in the music, sports, and entertainment industry at large.
According to the SEC filings, Dolan’s salary across the three different companies will cover just over $3.3 million. MSG Sports will pay $1.6 million of that total, MSG Entertainment will pay $1.5 million, and Sphere will pay a comparably measly $230,000, as it is the youngest venture of the three.
He will also have an annual target bonus of $6.6 million, or 200 percent of his salary across the three companies. His deal also includes participation in long term incentive plans (LTIPs) across MSG Sports and Entertainment, including $8.6 million from MSG Entertainment, and $7.8 million from MSG Sports. Altogether, the total annual value of the three deals is approximately $37.5 million, if Dolan receives the LTIP from Sphere.
Dolan and his family control each of the three companies, holding more than 70 percent of the voting shares in each of them amongst themselves. In addition to their leadership across these companies, Dolan and his wife, Kristin Dolan, are also chairman and CEO, respectively, of AMC Networks. All of the aforementioned companies were spun out of the Dolan family’s original cable business, Cablevision, which they sold to the European telecom giant Altice in 2016 for a total of $17.7 billion.
Dolan has spent the last few years restructuring the businesses, in no small part to utilize the business and family name to help launch his ultimate passion project: the Sphere. Dolan spent $2.3 billion to construct the initial Sphere in Las Vegas and has plans to build others around the world. Sphere was an undoubtedly costly project, but it’s one that is already steadily on its way toward making a profit for the family.
The venue has found success with acts like U2 and Dead & Company, in addition to its first original film, Darren Aronofsky’s, “Postcard From Earth.” All of this is in addition to its branding and promo deals, for which Sphere, with its all-encompassing monumental visuals, is uniquely suited for.
Sphere recently tapped former Warner Bros. COO Carolyn Blackwood to run Sphere Studios, where she will develop new original programming for the venue, from films to marketing and beyond. Sphere is a unique artistic opportunity that many see as having inherent potential, and with acts like U2 and Aronofsky, who have been eager to test its limitations, many more will surely follow.
