James Dolan’s fiery TV chat appears to help doom his own MSG suit

James Dolan may have brewed his own trouble.

A fiery TV interview that the Madison Square Garden CEO gave earlier this year insisting the arena will be successful even without selling alcohol apparently helped doom his recent court case, according to a judge’s ruling.

In tossing the combative billionaire’s lawsuit against the State Liquor Authority last week, the judge noted Dolan’s claim during his January FOX 5 appearance that the famed venue doesn’t need to sell alcohol to rake in cash.

Dolan had sued the SLA to prevent it from punishing his company, MSG Entertainment, by taking away its booze license, after the venue used facial recognition technology to block certain lawyers from entering it.

State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron threw out the case March 30, saying the suit was premature because the company hasn’t suffered  “an actual concrete injury” yet, according to court documents.

The judge also cast doubt on whether the firm would be harmed if its liquor license were taken away — citing Dolan’s own comments from the interview with Good Day New York. 

“There is a factual issue as to whether MSG will suffer irreparable economic damages as MSG’s principal, James Dolan, has publicly stated ‘people [sic] still gonna come to the games right … and you know honestly but alcohol, we don’t make a lot of money on alcohol,’” Engoron wrote in the ruling.

During the Jan. 26 interview, Dolan was asked if he planned to keep the controversial facial recognition policy despite catching heat from the SLA— to which he fired back that MSG doesn’t need to sell alcohol.

“If you’re grandstanding and threatening our liquor license, I’m gonna tell you, you know what, take away our liquor license,” he said. “People are still gonna come to the games.”

Dolan’s policy to use facial-recognition technology to remove all lawyers involved in lawsuits against his firm has infuriated attorneys and privacy advocates in recent months, resulting in lawsuits and disciplinary charges.

In February, the SLA charged MSG with violating rules requiring venues to be “open to the public.” 

Those charges could potentially result in the firm’s venues — which also include Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theatre — from having their liquor licenses revoked or suspended.

MSG Entertainment sued SLA in early March, alleging the agency had overstepped its reach and demanded that the court block its investigation into the matter.

On Wednesday, MSG Entertainment continued to double down on its facial-recognition policy.

“During the hearing, we clearly outlined the SLA’s abuse of its authority and overreach in filing pretextual charges against MSG Entertainment in connection with our adverse attorney policy,” the company said in a statement. “While the judge denied our filing as ‘premature,’ this decision has no impact on our enforcement of our policy, which we will continue to vigorously defend.”

Separately, a state appellate court in Manhattan last week lifted a preliminary injunction in November that had blocked the company from barring lawyers from its venues.