James Dolan’s Madison Square Garden Co. has closed a deal to buy the Fabulous Forum for $23.5 million and plans to soon begin a $50 million renovation of the 45-year-old arena, the L.A. Times reported. The former home of the Lakers and Kings opened in 1967 and for decades was L.A.’s number-one concert venue.

The purchase puts MSG in direct competition with AEG in the L.A. market, which the Forum ceded to Staples Center in 1999. AEG rival Live Nation will do the booking. MSG acquired the arena in a deal with the City of Inglewood and the Faithful Central Bible Church.

“We are honored to be adding the Forum to our iconic list of venues and to call Inglewood our West Coast home,” said Executive Chairman Dolan. “We look to build on the Forum’s outstanding legacy in music and to utilize our expertise to ensure it once again becomes a thriving destination for both artists and music fans, as well as an active member of the Inglewood community. And I’d give my entire collection of electric guitars to get a Knicks-Lakers game in there.”

MSG President/CEO Hank Ratner pointed out that the addition of the Forum will be a boon to MSG’s Fuse music network “by providing access to top performers from our iconic venues on both coasts.”

MSG has guaranteed Inglewood a yearly minimum of $675k in ticket, parking and concession taxes from the Forum, a figure based on the sale of 300k tickets. If sales fall below that number, MSG has agreed to pay Inglewood the difference.

Madison Square Garden is itself undergoing an upgrade to the tune of $1 billion, a project that is expected to take several years to complete.

The company also owns Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theatre in the Apple, as well as the Chicago Theatre. MSG books but doesn’t own the Wang Theatre in Boston. –Hits Daily Double