r/nba • u/PianoJealous307 • 5h ago
The regular-season opener between the Knicks and the 76ers has officially become the most expensive NBA season-opening game in history on the secondary ticket market. The average price for a seat at MSG has surged to approximately $2600, a staggering 282% increase from last year's Knicks home opener
A few days away from their highly anticipated matchup to kickstart the brand-new NBA season, the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers have already made history together.
The October 20 regular-season opener between the two teams has officially become the most expensive NBA season-opening game in history on the secondary ticket market.
According to SeatGeek, the average price for a seat at Madison Square Garden has surged to approximately $2,600, which is a staggering 282% increase compared to last year's home opener of the New York Knicks against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Ultimately, the mind-boggling prices are dictated by several key factors. The opener will begin after the Knicks raise their 2026 NBA championship banner.
LeBron James will also officially play for the first time as a member of the star-studded Philadelphia 76ers, and it will put both the Knicks and the 76ers for an intense rematch after last postseason's second-round encounter.
85
u/PianoJealous307 5h ago
The get-in price is currently $1112
50
u/SiphenPrax Knicks 4h ago edited 4h ago
The combo of the Knicks finally raising a championship banner after 53 years with Lebron coming in with a new team and city that is a long time rival of the Knicks and NYC (and the fact that we wanted Lebron to help save us years ago and then he went to Miami instead and now we proved we can win a title without him vs 15 years later) adds it all up to how insanely high the ticket prices are for this game.
18
u/NotASalamanderBoi Celtics 4h ago
Absolutely insane. Basketball is one of the most acceesible sports for the working people, and yet you’d have to pay ransom prices to be able to see your team play if they’re successful.
7
1
u/Snoo-26902 1h ago
What working people are you talking about? You cant even see your home teams on regular TV anymore; you have to pay, and going to a game is only for the rich.
138
u/Typical-Radish4317 Supersonics 5h ago
I believe it the parade was absolutely insane and like 99% of the people who turned out didn't see anything. This is the next best thing to attend outside of the clinching game
9
u/Ishtastic08 Knicks 2h ago
Can confirm, could barely see shit and it was a top 5 day of my life. I’ve never seen New York so alive.
61
u/Domainsetter 5h ago
- the LeBron Sixers debut too
65
u/PianoJealous307 5h ago
Also Tacko Fall highly anticipated return in the NBA
10
u/MddlingAges Knicks 4h ago
We’ll all remember where we were when we saw the 7’6” 76er and tell our grandkids about it.
5
u/Steridire Knicks 5h ago
That's big too but this season opener for NYK was always going to have historic demand, the Mecca of basketball just won a chip after 50 years with one of the most dominant playoff runs in NBA history.
2
u/BitchinBobSaget 3h ago
Yeah that was my plan until I looked into tickets. Was looking just minutes after they released too
14
31
u/RealLanceStorm Nets 4h ago
Stunned that Dolan didn't use this game for his racist politician fundraiser given the high profile and how little shame he was (Not a knock on Knicks fans - the good ones hate him too)
12
u/mydrumluck Knicks 3h ago
I hate him so fucking much. He earned a lot of good will by staying out but he's burned it up at a rapid pace.
21
6
u/Legitimate-Elk8595 Warriors 3h ago
The fact that the cheapest ticket to last years Knicks home opener was almost $1000 is also nuts
1
u/LightSpecialist804 Knicks 1h ago
that's not true lol, I went last year and paid about 400 for decent seats
5
6
u/ASK_ABT_MY_USERNAME Warriors 5h ago
Seeing 20k seats that aren't even court side https://www.ticketmaster.com/new-york-knicks-vs-philadelphia-76ers-new-york-new-york-10-20-2026/event/3B006511E91B8627
15
u/ZePlotThickener 5h ago
Feel bad for the people that paid and get hit with "dnp: sciatica."
27
u/PianoJealous307 5h ago
LeBron ain't missing the opener
-8
u/LightSpecialist804 Knicks 4h ago
especially at MSG. He's literally rested the games before MSG games just to make sure he's fresh for the MSG one. Kind of pathetic really
2
5
u/CountFew6186 Knicks 3h ago
It’s not LeBron. They’re paying to see the first championship banner in 53 years go up.
3
u/Lumpy_Tell9880 Knicks 2h ago
Facts. Hilarious people here think that LeBron Stans are paying up to see him play an away opener for a new team. This is all about the banner raising after 53 years and to pay respect for the Knicks legendary run.
5
5
u/GoblinTheHog 3h ago
$2600?! That’s the price of a monthly stay in a NYC janitor closet sized apartment.
5
u/gnukidsontheblock Knicks 4h ago
I went to all 5 Finals games and was able to get these pre-sale for $1500 which I was happy with. Then I lucked out and got a refund due to some MSG nonsense and only paid $600.
When Lebron plays at MSG it's always expensive, I've followed prices the last 3 years and the absolute cheapest get-in (outside of ticket package holders) was $500 and that was a dip that only lasted a few hours a couple years ago. Prices usually hover around $700 for the cheapest.
Get-in price for the Finals I think was like $4k so spending the ~$1100 is not too bad considering it's kind of the culminating the Finals/Championship with ring night. I do think we'll see a drop below $1000 on Monday, but they'll go back up day of.
4
5
u/i-piss-excellence32 Knicks 4h ago
I spent 3100 for 2 tickets. It sucks, but worth it. I been waiting my whole life for this day
3
u/BigOlPass Lakers 5h ago
Okay but what's the cheapest?
7
4
2
u/LightSpecialist804 Knicks 4h ago
They shouldve made ring night against the Pelicans or something to keep the price under 1K
4
u/Tocoolforyall720 Knicks 5h ago
Capitalism everyone
2
0
u/Electronic_Ad9521 5h ago
Unregulated capitalism
11
u/johnnymountain91 76ers 5h ago
That's just capitalism. It is regulated in ways that fuck people over. Unregulated in ways that create obscene profit for pdf files
0
u/Yankeeknickfan Knicks 1h ago
do you think every knicks fan would be in the building if we were the soviet union
1
u/betimwrong 2h ago
Completely useless "most expensive ticket" shitposts via some stupid ass third party ticket platform? We're so back!
1
u/Snoo-26902 1h ago
No big thing, the NBA is now a rich man's sport. The average American can hardly go to any games and cant even watch their local teams anymore, but must pay the NBA $ 17 a month, and even more to see their own home team.
It's an elitist, rich man's hobby.
1
u/Lack-Trick 76ers 33m ago
the people buying these tickets have way too much money. Taxes couldn’t be raised high enough
1
-6
5h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
10
u/Current_Cut_2667 4h ago edited 4h ago
Can people really not recognize such obvious AI comments?
Looking at its comment history makes it so obvious that it's a bot.
6
5
u/Awkward_Chard_5025 4h ago
Not only that, but it has to be one of the most stacked opening night games in recent memory. Embiid, brown, LeBron, KAT, Brunson alone. That’s an all star game starting line up right there lol
2
u/Gmej221 4h ago
I wasn't even in the country during the finals. I was damn certain I was gonna go to ring night. I'm choosing to believe everyone there that night is a die hard who was either lucky enough to see the championship run and is celebrating or people like me who missed out on things and are extremely grateful to witness the banner being raised. Either way it's gonna be an amazing experience.
0
u/Saucy_Totchie Knicks 3h ago
The Knicks get to raise their first championship banner in 53 years and then it's LeBron's first game as a Sixer.
40
u/Single_Comment6389 5h ago
I think I might become a scalper.