MSG Sportsnet

MSG Sportsnet (MSGSN), formerly known as MSG Plus, is an American regional sports network owned by Sphere Entertainment. It operates alongside its sister channel, MSG Network, and focuses on bringing sports events to viewers in the New York City metropolitan area. This includes parts of New York State, Northern New Jersey, Southwestern Connecticut, and Northeastern Pennsylvania.

The channel began in 1976 by Cablevision as Cablevision Sports 3. Over the years, it changed names several times, becoming SportsChannel New York before joining the Fox Sports Networks in 1998 as FSN New York. In March 2008, it was renamed MSG Plus to better match its parent channel, eventually dropping the Fox Sports branding. Today, MSG Sportsnet showcases games and events from many professional and college sports teams in the New York area.

History

SportsChannel New York

MSG Sportsnet started in 1976 as Cablevision Sports 3, a local sports channel owned by Cablevision and shown to their subscribers on Long Island. It began with games from the New York Islanders and New York Nets. In March 1979, it was renamed SportsChannel New York. Soon after, it added games from the New York Yankees and New York Mets. It also got games from the New Jersey Devils when the team moved in 1982.

As SportsChannel grew, Cablevision created more regional sports networks, with SportsChannel New York as the first. This helped bring sports to many areas.

FSN New York

In 1997, Fox and Liberty Media bought part of SportsChannel New York and changed its name to Fox Sports New York. It later became Fox Sports Net New York in 2000. In 2002, it began sharing Mets games with another channel called YES Network.

MSG+/MSGSN

In 2008, Cablevision changed Fox Sports New York to MSG Plus. The last show under the old name was a college basketball game on March 9. The next day, it became MSG Plus with a tennis match between Roger Federer and Pete Sampras.

In 2022, MSG Plus changed its name to MSG Sportsnet. In 2024, MSG Networks and YES Network announced a new app for watching games called the Gotham Sports App.

Programming

MSG Sportsnet shows many sports games. It has the rights to broadcast games for the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders hockey teams from the NHL. When two big local teams play at the same time, MSG Sportsnet steps in to show one of the games. It also shows some New York Rangers hockey games and New York Red Bulls soccer games when its main channel is busy with other games.

The network also features college sports, including a weekly basketball program for Hofstra University. In the past, it showed many college games from the Pac-12 and Big 12 Conferences, but these moved to another network in 2013. MSG Sportsnet also used to air some sports talk shows and Arena Football League games, but these are no longer part of its schedule.

Related services

MSGSN 2

MSGSN 2 is a special channel that only shows games when there are too many games happening at once. It helps when three or four local games are scheduled to air at the same time on the main channels. For example, if the Knicks or Rangers are playing, their game might be on MSG2, while an Islanders or Devils game would be on MSGSN 2. Usually, Knicks games are shown on MSG2 only during away games that start later than Rangers games. This is because Knicks games are usually shown on the main MSG network when played at Madison Square Garden. However, in 2008, some Knicks home games were moved to MSG2 so MSG could show the Rangers' Stanley Cup Playoff matches instead.

MSGSN HD

MSGSN HD is a high-definition version of MSG Sportsnet. It shows games in clear, high-definition quality. It is available on several cable and satellite providers, including Cablevision (except in Litchfield), Time Warner Cable, Comcast, RCN, DirecTV, and Verizon FiOS. MSGSN HD shows all games of the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, and New York Red Bulls in high definition.

On-air staff

Current on-air staff

MSG Sportsnet has many people who help bring sports games and shows to viewers. Some of the main announcers include:

• Mike Breen – Knicks play-by-play announcer
• Walt Frazier – Knicks color analyst
• Kenny Albert – fill-in Knicks play-by-play announcer
• Mike Crispino – fill-in Knicks play-by-play announcer
• Sam Rosen – Rangers play-by-play announcer
• Joe Micheletti – Rangers color analyst
• John Giannone – Rangers sideline reporter; fill-in Rangers play-by-play announcer
• Brendan Burke – Islanders play-by-play announcer
• Butch Goring – Islanders color analyst
• A. J. Mleczko – fill-in Islanders color analyst
• Shannon Hogan – Islanders sideline reporter, pre-game and post-game show and intermission report host
• Rick DiPietro – Islanders pre-game, post-game, and intermission analyst
• Stan Fischler – Islanders pre-game, post-game, and intermission analyst
• Chris King – fill-in Islanders play-by-play announcer
• Jiggs McDonald – fill-in Islanders play-by-play announcer
• Steve Cangialosi – Red Bulls play-by-play announcer
• Bill Spaulding – Devils play-by-play announcer
• Ken Daneyko – Devils color analyst
• Bryce Salvador – Devils pre-game, post-game, and intermission analyst
• Dan Dunleavy – Sabres play-by-play announcer
• Rob Ray – Sabres sideline reporter
• Mike Robitaille – fill-in Sabres color analyst
• Brian Duff – Sabres pre-game, post-game, and intermission analyst
• Martin Biron – Sabres pre-game, post-game, and intermission analyst
• Jason Horowitz – Liberty play-by-play announcer
• Shep Messing – Red Bulls color analyst

Awards

MSG Sportsnet received Promax Awards in 2009 for their work on rebranding, promoting high school sports, and introducing Devils and Islanders games.