What was already one of the hottest tickets in sports is now reaching scalding levels.
After the Knicks clinched their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 Monday, tickets for three potential home games at Madison Square Garden are now fully at Super Bowl-like levels—with further rises in the next two weeks quite possible.
After hovering around $2,500 per ticket last week, low-end, get-in pricing for an NBA Finals Game 3 at MSG—now set for Monday, June 8— is now around $3,700 per ticket as demand continues to grow. That’s right in line with the $3,800 per ticket for February’s Super Bowl LX in the final days before that NFL title game.
On the other end of the pricing scale, prime seats near the MSG court for Game 3 of the NBA Finals are frequently being listed for more than $50,000 each, and individual reports are surfacing of courtside seats selling for nearly $140,000 each.
Secondary market pricing for Game 4 of the NBA Finals at MSG starts at $3,400, and pricing for a potential Game 6 in New York begins at nearly $5,000. The Knicks are assured of hosting Games 3 and 4, and Game 6—if it happens—as the team had a worse regular-season record than either of the two Western Conference finalists, the Spurs and the Thunder.
That San Antonio-Oklahoma City series is tied at two games each going into Tuesday’s Game 5. The NBA Finals will begin June 3, at the home of that Western Conference winner, meaning the Knicks will have eight days off before their next game.
Market Factors
The Knicks pricing far exceeds current listings for a potential Game 1 in San Antonio that begins at about $1,500, and one in Oklahoma City starting at nearly $2,000. As a result, it’s likely some Knicks fans will opt for a cheaper option of seeing the team play on the road.
That, in turn, may revive some of the ticket resale issues that surfaced in the Eastern Conference finals between the Knicks and Cavaliers in which Cleveland restricted resale of its courtside tickets to New York fans. Like many teams around the league, the Cavaliers have detailed sales agreements that govern its courtside seating policies, particularly in the playoffs.
The NBA Finals resale situation, meanwhile, differs from the Super Bowl market in key ways. The NFL event is set in a pre-established location years in advance, with the overall secondary market managed heavily by On Location, the NFL’s official hospitality provider. That TKO Group-owned company has significant control over a large swath of the Super Bowl ticket inventory, and when and how it reaches the market.
There are not nearly as many levers governing the NBA Finals resale market, leaving it more exposed to raw supply and demand.
In addition to the 27-year gap since the Knicks last appeared in an NBA Finals, the team has not won a league title since 1973, which means fans are that much hungrier to see a championship happen.
