Q&A With …
Jerry Passaro
Senior Vice President, Network and Technical Operations,
MSG Networks
Jerry Passaro, 60, has completed nearly four decades with New York City regional sports networks, starting in 1982 with Sports Channel and staying through that channel’s eventual merger with MSG Network in 1997. Passaro spoke to SportsBusiness Journal’s John Ourand about how his job changed as his network became more closely associated with Madison Square Garden.
MSG Networks was an early adopter of HD productions for sports, Passaro says.Taylor Wilder / MSG Photos
» How did life change after you became associated with MSG?
PASSARO: The first time I came to the Garden was in December 1996 for an interview. I came through the security, and the guards directed me up to the fourth floor where the network offices were. But I took a wrong turn that took me right past the locker rooms where the Rangers were having a Christmas party with their families. I thought I would have never seen that with the Islanders and Devils. From that point, I knew this was going to be a little bit of a different situation.
» How did that affect your job?
PASSARO: Our offices were on the fourth floor of the actual Madison Square Garden. They would be playing basketball and hockey above us. We were right there — we basically had a ringside seat to everything that was going on at the Garden and with the Knicks and Rangers. We ended up with similar relationships with the Islanders and the Devils and the Mets and the Yankees at the time. But it all kind of started here with the Knicks and the Rangers. You didn’t know any trade secrets. You didn’t know anything that was going on with the teams from a competitive standpoint. But you did get to see them up close.
»What innovations have you overseen?
PASSARO: In 1998, there were two HD trucks built — one for CBS Sports and one for Madison Square Garden Networks. We would do all the Knicks and Rangers in HD starting in 1998. Soon thereafter, the following year, we added the Islanders and the Devils and the Mets and the Yankees. We were a very early adopter. We were an RSN, and we were doing HD before a lot of the national networks.
» What’s your best MSG memory?
PASSARO: June 5, 1999. I took my son to the Larry Johnson 4-point play game, which was Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. That same day, Charismatic was trying to win the Belmont and complete the Triple Crown. And the Yankees and Mets were playing a day game that day in the Subway Series. When MLB started interleague play in 1997, the Subway Series in New York was a monumental event. It’s still big now, but it’s not like it was then. I just remember the enormousness of that day.
