Madison Square Garden has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit alleging hackers accessed sensitive visitor data from up to 26 million people collected through controversial surveillance and facial-recognition systems used at the Knicks’ home arena.
The suit against Madison Square Garden Entertainment was filed Tuesday in New York federal court, one day after cybercrime group ShinyHunters claimed to have hacked the company’s internal systems to obtain everything from biometric facial recognition data and background check information to credit scores and Social Security numbers. The suit comes three days after the Knicks defeated the Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals in San Antonio to take home the 2025-26 championship.
MSG Entertainment, which owns Madison Square Garden, is the only named defendant. Madison Square Garden Sports, a separate company, owns the Knicks and Rangers (and is considering a spinoff to separate the teams into separate entities). James Dolan is executive chairman and CEO of both organizations.
“Madison Square Garden, which is owned by the Defendant as well as its famous tenants (the NBA champion New York Knicks and the New York Rangers), is well regarded as one of the world’s most famous sports arenas,” the complaint says. “The arena is the sole professional sports venue located within Manhattan in New York City – and attracts visitors from around the world.”
