Afternoon Edition

October 20, 2026

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The Knicks will raise their first championship banner in 53 years Tuesday evening, and getting in the door is historically expensive. On Tuesday morning, the cheapest individual ticket on Ticketmaster for the Knicks opener against the 76ers was more than $2,200. On StubHub, tickets were going for more than $2,100, and on SeatGeek the least expensive ticket cost $2,200.

—Ben Horney

First Up

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As conversations progress toward a 24-team College Football Playoff, questions have arisen about how that might affect the Army-Navy game’s longstanding scheduling.

Cheapest Ticket to Knicks Opener at MSG Climbs to More Than $2,000

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Knicks are about to raise their first championship banner in 53 years, and getting in the building will cost a small fortune.

The defending champions open the regular season against the new-look 76ers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. As of Monday afternoon, tickets on secondary marketplaces were going for as low as $1,100, which “slightly surprised” TicketData founder Keith Pagello, who points out that the cheapest tickets for Game 3 of the NBA Finals just ahead of tip-off were about $6,700.

By Monday evening, prices for Tuesday night’s game featuring reigning Finals MVP Jalen Brunson and the NBA’s all-time scoring leader LeBron James had climbed, with the cheapest individual resale ticket on Ticketmaster listed for more than $1,700. On Tuesday morning, the cheapest individual ticket on Ticketmaster was more than $2,200; on StubHub, it was more than $2,100, and on SeatGeek it exceeded $2,200.

“Definitely surging,” Pagello tells Front Office Sports, noting that all the ingredients for an “extraordinarily expensive regular season game” exist, including the debut of James and former Celtics star Jaylen Brown as 76ers.

For the vast majority of Knicks fans who didn’t get to see their team win the championship in San Antonio, “this is arguably the next closest thing to being part of that championship moment, watching the banner being raised to the rafters at MSG, where it will hang forever,” Pagello says.

“This will go down as one of the most expensive regular-season games in NBA history, if not the most expensive,” he says.

The closest historical comparisons he can think of include the first Lakers game following the death of Kobe Bryant in 2020, Bryant’s final game before retirement in 2016—in which he scored 60 points—and games in 2023 when James was approaching the all-time scoring record.

One interesting trend emerged over the last week: Before the Monday evening surge, the get-in price had dropped by as much as 15%, while prices for center-court sections in the lower bowl simultaneously jumped by more than 25%.

“Generally speaking, the gap between premium seats and the cheapest tickets narrows as an event approaches, with the best seats commanding less of a premium,” Pagello says. “But it’s not entirely surprising to see this game buck that trend, given the number of deep-pocketed New Yorkers willing to pay a premium to be close to the court for such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Sports Illustrated Tickets CEO David Lane agrees that Tuesday night will likely end up among the “most expensive home openers” in NBA history. According to Lane, the average home opener sees tickets selling for between $400 and $500 apiece.

“For Knicks fans, it’s been a generation since they’ve been able to see a moment like this,” he told FOS’s Baker Machado on Front Office Sports Tonight. “So you can understand why prices are elevated.”

Still, Lane said hope is not lost for Knicks fans who live close enough to MSG to buy tickets closer to tip-off. As of Monday morning, there were resale tickets listed on Ticketmaster for as high as $28,000, on StubHub for more than $25,000, and on SeatGeek for over $24,000.

“You see that type of tactic all the time,” Lane said. “Those tickets will move down into a sellable range.”

Pagello cautions that fans shouldn’t bank on scoring last-minute tickets at reasonable prices, including because “inventory is exceptionally thin.” He also notes that the ring ceremony, which begins at 6:30 p.m., means the crowd will want to be in their seats “well before the game starts.”

The get-in price of more than $2,000 is still lower than what tickets sold for when the Knicks originally put them on the market last month. At first, individual Knicks tickets for the season opener went on sale for an average of $2,500, but Madison Square Garden Sports quickly paused ticket sales and issued a statement saying there was a “mistake in our pricing.”

Win $500 Toward Baseball Tickets

Baseball playoffs have arrived, and we’re giving one fan the chance to be in the stands for it.

Front Office Sports is teaming up with TickPick to give away $500 in credit toward baseball playoff tickets. Whether you’re looking to catch a postseason showdown, see a division rival battle it out, or experience the intensity of October baseball in person, this is your chance to get to the ballpark.

How to enter:

Submit your first name, last name, and email to receive 1 entry (required)
Download the TickPick app to receive 5 bonus entries

The giveaway runs until Oct. 23, 2026, and one winner will receive $500 in TickPick credit toward baseball tickets.

Enter now.

Must be 18+ and located in the United States to participate.

ONE BIG FIG

Going Global

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

125

That’s how many international players are on NBA rosters at the start of the 2026–27 season, tying the league record. The players hail from a record 43 countries, and 70 of the 125 players are European. France leads the way with 17 rostered players, and Canada sits just behind at 16.

LOUD AND CLEAR

T-Mac on Clippers Punishments

Nadia DeMarinis, Front Office Sports

“Trying to circumvent the salary cap is just a no-no.”

—Seven-time NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady told Front Office Sports when asked about the punishment the NBA gave to the Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer for circumventing the salary cap with Kawhi Leonard. McGrady, who now serves as a studio analyst for NBC Sports, played in the NBA for 15 years, said Ballmer is a “phenomenal owner,” but the $30 million fine was appropriate.

McGrady also poked fun at Leonard’s ability to cash in on deals prohibited under NBA salary cap rules while also being the face of load management. “You going to play half of the games, and you still come in and make deals like that? You got some skills, bro,” he said.

Turning Soccer’s Moment Into Momentum

The 2026 World Cup brought unprecedented attention to soccer across North America, but for Major League Soccer, the bigger opportunity is what comes next as the league continues to sustain historically high fan demand. With record growth across attendance, viewership, social, digital engagement, player investment, and fan acquisition, MLS is entering its next chapter with momentum that extends well beyond the tournament.

For brands, that creates an opportunity to build lasting connections with a young, diverse and increasingly engaged fan base. Chime is among those betting on that trajectory, using its MLS partnership to connect with fans through tentpole events, player-led storytelling, community activations and experiences designed to make the brand part of the culture surrounding the league.

Read the full article.

STATUS REPORT

Two Up, Two Down

Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

Amazon Prime Video ⬆ The Hawks announced they will become the first NBA team to stream all local games (non-national exclusive broadcasts) exclusively on the platform for the 2026–27 season. Hawks fans will be able to access all these games with a Prime subscription if they’re in Atlanta’s five-state market of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Mississippi. Local games will also be broadcast for free on Atlanta News First and Peachtree Sports Network throughout Georgia.

Iga Świątek ⬇ The six-time Grand Slam champion withdrew from the Ningbo Open with a left thigh injury, confirming that she won’t qualify for the WTA Finals for the first time since 2019. Świątek is currently ranked No. 9 in the world and finished the season without a Grand Slam title after four consecutive years with at least one. The former world No. 1 has earned slightly more than $4.3 million in prize money this year, down from more than $10 million last year.

Disney ⬆ For its first Super Bowl broadcast, ESPN revealed it will also carry a Star Wars–themed alt-cast that will air on Disney Channel and Disney+. The alt-cast, which was announced on Monday Night Football, will feature an animated version of the game with players’ appearances replaced by Star Wars characters. ESPN has experimented with similar alt-casts using Disney’s intellectual property, including Toy Story and Monsters Inc.

Big Six ⬇ Real Madrid is demanding that the six Premier League clubs who signed onto the failed European Super League it spearheaded in 2021 pay a share of the project’s costs. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur—who make up England’s traditional Big Six—could all have to pay up to $90 million if Madrid has its way. That’s despite Manchester City potentially facing a harsh punishment for financial breaches, Chelsea losing hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years, and Tottenham nearly being relegated last season.