Saturday, August 22, 2026

NBA Finals Ticket Prices at MSG Push Above $40,000

An already stratospheric ticket resale market for the NBA Finals is growing even more, thanks in part to San Antonio’s megastar and the long-starved Knicks fan base.

May 21, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jose Alvarado (5) walks the ball up court against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the second quarter of game two of the eastern conference finals during the 2026 NBA playoffs at Madison Square Garden
Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The 2026 NBA Finals matchup is now set as the Spurs clinched the Western Conference title. As they clash with the Knicks—a revival of the 1999 matchup—the ticket cost for games at Madison Square Garden continues to climb to eye-popping heights.

A secondary market get-in price for Game 3 on June 8 is now hovering around $4,200 per ticket on multiple marketplaces. That low-end cost increased by about $500 from last week, when the Knicks clinched their spot in the Finals, and is up by $1,700 from two weeks ago. It also exceeds the comparable figure for Super Bowl LX in February.

The other two scheduled games at MSG are showing similar growth. A get-in cost for Game 4 on June 10 that had been around $3,400 last week is now up to more than $3,900, while Game 6 on June 16, if necessary, has risen by about $300 per ticket to $5,300.

Pricing for higher-end inventory, such as lower-level and courtside seats, is tracking much higher. The tickets are frequently listed for more than $40,000 each, particularly for Games 3 and 6, with some listing prices in six figures. 

The ongoing escalation in ticket resale costs represents a potent combination of demand factors. The Knicks are making their first NBA Finals appearance in 27 years, and despite long pockets of mediocrity preceding the current, Jalen Brunson-led era, the team’s fandom is both broad and deep. 

The presence of the Spurs, meanwhile, adds significantly to the appeal. Beyond the prior NBA Finals history of the teams, the current matchup involves San Antonio superstar Victor Wembanyama, a key face of the league. The French phenom won MVP honors in the conference finals as he also is the first player in NBA history to have at least 55 blocks and 25 three-pointers in a single postseason.

Travel Or Not? 

Knicks fans, meanwhile, have a choice for the NBA Finals. 

As the ticket resale costs for the games at MSG continued to rise, it is still much cheaper for the other games at Frost Bank Center, the Spurs’ home arena. The low-end, get-in price for Game 1, set for Wednesday in San Antonio, is about $1,000 per ticket, while Game 2 on Friday starts at about $1,300. 

Those costs, combined with airfare and lodging from the New York area to San Antonio, still add up to much less than the tickets alone to games at MSG. There is nothing else, though, quite like the venue known as “The World’s Most Famous Arena” and the spectacle of big-events there.

On the selling side, some Knicks season-ticket holders are wrestling with the choice of attending the NBA Finals themselves, or receiving a hefty potential influx of cash.

The NBA Finals resale situation differs from the Super Bowl ticket 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. 

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