The Madison Square Garden Company has hired iHeartMedia veteran Darren Pfeffer to oversee MSG's vast slate of live events. In this newly created role -- executive vice president of MSG Live -- Pfeffer will be in charge of events and programming at the company's eponymous venue and Radio City Music Hall, both in NYC, as well as The Forum near Los Angeles and the Chicago Theatre, among others.
Pfeffer's plate will be full when he starts his new job on May 17. His priorities as evp will include setting the strategic vision for MSG's bookings, plus looking ahead to creating new signature events and artist residencies (like Billy Joel's wildly successful run at the Garden). He'll also play key roles in venue expansion -- a music-only arena in Las Vegas was announced last year -- and will provide daily oversight of financial and operational matters. He'll report directly to MSG president and CEO David O'Connor.
"Darren has spent more than 20 years in entertainment, overseeing some of the industry's most popular events and creating opportunities to leverage talent," said O'Connor, referencing Pfeffer's tenure at iHeart, where he oversaw 160-plus events including iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas and the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina. "His relationships, along with his experience developing compelling programming, will serve us well as we remain focused on growing our live event business by exploring new and better ways to utilize our world-class portfolio of venues."
Since 2006, Pfeffer has notably served as executive producer of Z100's Jingle Ball, which spawned the multi-market iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour. He also produced several of iHeart's business-to-business events at conferences like CES and SXSW, and worked on event integrations for brands including Target, Pepsi and Verizon.
"The Madison Square Garden Company is peerless in its portfolio of iconic venues, world-class partners and access to top-tier performers and events," said Pfeffer in a statement. "I am thrilled to join the team, and look forward to not only continuing to grow the live event business, but to providing unforgettable experiences for MSG's customers and partners."
