In 1925, Tex secured the rights to promote live events from Madison Square Garden in New York. A key business partner of Rickard's in this period was a concert and boxing promoter named Jess McMahon, who is the grandfather of current World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promoter Vince McMahon. However, due to Rickard disliking the sport of professional wrestling, he did not co-promote wrestling events with McMahon, and it was not until 1935 that McMahon's son, Vincent J. McMahon, would begin promoting his Capitol Wrestling Corporation events. In spite of these objections to pro wrestling, Rickard and McMahon did promote boxing matches like the December 11, 1925 Light-Heavyweight championship match between Jack Delaney and Paul Berlenbach. In the 1920s, the best boxing promoters and managers were instrumental in bringing boxing to new audiences and provoking media and public interest. Arguably the most famous of all three-way partnership (fighter-manager-promoter) was that of Jack Dempsey (Heavyweight Champion, 1919-1926), his manager Jack Kearns, and Rickard as promoter. Together they grossed US$ 8.4 million in only five fights between 1921 and 1927 and ushered in a "golden age" of popularity for professional boxing in the 1920s. They were also responsible for the first live radio broadcast of a title-fight ( Dempsey v. Georges Carpentier, in 1921).

Tex Rickard was awarded an NHL franchise in 1926 to compete with the now-long-forgotten New York Americans. The team was immediately dubbed "Tex's Rangers", and the nickname stuck. Rickard managed to get future legendary Toronto Maple Leafs coach Conn Smythe to assemble the team, but Smythe was replaced by Lester Patrick before the inaugural season. The team turned out to be a winner; in their first season, the Rangers finished atop the American Division, but would lose to the Boston Bruins in the playoffs. Tex Rickard also founded the South America Land and Cattle Company and the Rickard Texas Oil Company.

The Rangers won the Stanley Cup over the now defunct Montreal Maroons in only their second year in business, but it was not without some desperation: coach Patrick had to be their goaltender for two periods of game two of the finals after regular goalie Lorne Chabot was injured. He opened "Boston Madison Square Garden" in 1928. The name got clipped to Boston Garden.

He was engaged in fight promotion in Miami Beach when he died January 6, 1929, of complications following an appendectomy.

• One of the rumors surrounding the mysterious Etta Place was that she married Rickard around 1910, and the two moved to Paraguay, where he built her a ranch before he decided to return to promoting boxing. Place was the girlfriend of the Sundance Kid, the famous outlaw that rode with Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch. The rumor is not confirmed.

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