Just when there is seemingly a ceiling on how high tickets can go for NBA Finals tickets at Madison Square Garden, the escalating madness around Knicks fandom still finds an entirely new level.
Get-in pricing for Games 3, 4, and 6, if necessary, at MSG took another massive jump on multiple ticket resale marketplaces in the wake of the Knicks’ 105–95 road win over the Spurs in Game 1. As of Thursday afternoon, low-end tickets for Monday’s Game 3 started at about $8,200, nearly doubling the comparable figure of $4,200 from just three days ago, and more than tripling the market level from less than three weeks ago.
Game 4 on June 10—which is now a potential clinching scenario should the Knicks complete another postseason sweep—has taken an even bigger leap. Pricing that began at $3,900 on Monday for that contest has now soared to around $8,500 per ticket across multiple markets.
Game 6 on June 16, still a tentative contest based on the outcome of the series, has pricing beginning at about $9,000 per ticket, up from $5,300 at the start of this week.
Rarefied Air
These figures are far beyond the comparable data from Super Bowl LX in February, and show just how manic the demand for Knicks tickets has become. In addition to the 27-year gap since the Knicks last appeared in the NBA Finals, the team has not won a league title since 1973, which means fans are that much hungrier to see a championship happen.
“There have been some high tickets for the NBA Finals before, and the event has been steadily going up [over recent years], but this is totally unprecedented territory and is a whole other thing,” TicketIQ founder and CEO Jesse Lawrence tells Front Office Sports. “It’s also not surprising, though, given the intensity of the Knicks fan base and the disposable income that’s in New York.”
These get-in figures are all for the upper sections of MSG, and lower-level seats continue to command resale pricing well into five figures. Notably, the get-in price for Game 3 of the NBA Finals also exceeds the comparable $7,900 figure for the FIFA men’s World Cup final on July 19.
As has been the case since the Knicks-Spurs matchup was set last weekend, pricing is far cheaper in San Antonio. Friday’s Game 2 has a get-in resale price of less than $800, with that figure falling by several hundred dollars after the Spurs’ loss to open the series. A potential Game 5 on June 13 at Frost Bank Center starts around $1,800, while a possible Game 7 there on June 19 begins at $3,200.
Watching Prices Rise
Even Knicks watch parties outside of MSG, or elsewhere in New York, are not immune to the ticket resale price escalation that is accelerating all around the NBA Finals.
A sold-out Game 2 watch party inside MSG that carries a $10 ticket cost, with proceeds going to the Garden of Dreams Foundation, now has resale costs beginning at around $100. Outside the arena, additional watch parties can proceed after New York officials reversed a prior ban.
The outcome of Friday’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals will have significant sway on resale market activity over the weekend heading into the two games at MSG next week.
“If the Knicks win and go up 2–0 [in the series], you’ll see the market go crazy, especially for Game 4,” Alex Warner, CEO and cofounder of season-ticket management company Winventory, tells FOS. “In that case, you’ll see a lot of folks looking to get in for that one. It would either be a clinch possibility, or at worst, the Knicks go into that one up [two games to one] with an opportunity to really put the Spurs on the ropes, and that will certainly drive the market.”
