Fortune (01/24/23)

A bill proposed in New York State's Legislature would prohibit New York City's Madison Square Garden (MSG) and other sports venues from barring admission to critics of their owners. It follows a policy by parent company MSG Entertainment of denying entry to ticket-holders if they work for law firms involved in litigation against the firm. The policy revokes their tickets and employs facial-recognition software to identify and eject people who try to attend events. A lawyer and longtime York Knicks season ticket-holder sued MSG Entertainment in October, saying he and nearly 60 attorneys from his firm were banned from the company's venues. The legislation would revise a longstanding state law designed to stop Broadway venues from barring theater critics they did not like by adding "sporting events" to the roster of public places of entertainment that cannot block entry to people with valid tickets. The bill does not directly address the use of facial-recognition technology to screen attendees, although sponsors said the practice overreaches. MSG Entertainment claims its exclusion policy helps keep its legal foes out of its venues, and said the bill's sponsors were allying themselves with "attorneys representing ticket scalpers and other money grabbers." A company spokesperson insisted: "The facial-recognition technology system does not retain images of individuals, with the exception of those who were previously advised they are prohibited from entering our venues, or whose previous misconduct in our venues has identified them as a security risk."

Read the full story from Fortune.