Oak View Group, MSG & Sphere Launch Company to Manage Sports & Entertainment Partnerships

Three of the largest companies in live entertainment and sports — Oak View Group, Madison Square Garden Entertainment and its sister company Sphere Entertainment Co. — have announced the launch of a new company to manage their top sports and entertainment brand relationships.

Crown Properties Collection is tasked with managing many of the companies’ most prominent and lucrative sports partnerships, such as with the New York Knicks and Rangers, across some of their top venues, including Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and the Sphere, the new 20,000-capacity venue in Las Vegas where U2 will kick off a 25-date residency on Sept. 29.

In addition to being founding partners, the Madison Square Garden (MSG) family of companies will be the first clients of the Oak View Group-led joint venture, which will oversee global partnership sales and strategy for them. MSG and Sphere will contribute advisory services to Crown Properties and help in retaining the brand partners.

“Crown Properties Collection will represent only the most valuable properties in all of sports and entertainment together with the most revolutionary venue in the world, Sphere in Las Vegas,” Oak View’s Chairman and CEO Tim Leiweke said in a statement. “This, along with [Oak View Group’s] already industry-leading global partnerships platform, which has proudly sold $4.5B in partnerships over the last five years, will create the largest partnership of its kind in the live industry.”

The companies named Jay Voelker, who previously ran the global sponsorship business for the professional golf organizer PGA TOUR, to lead Crown Properties. He joins Oak View Group as president and will report to Leiweke.

“Crown Properties Collection’s purpose is to provide unprecedented global representation for world-renowned sports and entertainment brands and venues, and there is no greater portfolio to begin with than the MSG family of companies’ world-class assets,” Voelker said. “I am honored to join OVG, the leading full service live entertainment and hospitality company to represent CPC and create a new model for global partnerships in our industry.”