The Knicks are taking significant measures to keep playoff ticket prices down.
They are enacting a deterrent to try to limit predatory ticket brokers’ ability to resell tickets and drive up prices, The Post has learned.
This year, for individual ticket buyers, Knicks playoff tickets won’t be able to be transferred until 24 hours before each home game at Madison Square Garden. The idea is that in the past, brokers immediately bought large amounts of tickets as soon as they were available and quickly began reselling them, essentially setting the market for resale at exorbitant prices on secondary markets. The time deterrent, the Knicks believe, will take away that ability.
For season ticket holders, it is increased to 72 hours before home games.
“As soon as playoff tickets go on-sale, predatory ticket brokers purchase as many tickets as possible and immediately charge inflated prices on the secondary market,” an MSG spokesperson said. “To disrupt this practice, we’re shortening the ticket transfer window for Knicks playoff games and encouraging everyone to sign up for our Fan First Program, which helps to get tickets directly in the hands of fans at face value.”
The Knicks acknowledge that their own prices are already high due to rising costs for players, staff and management and their commitment to delivering a quality product. But they want to help fans avoid having to pay inflated prices on top of that on secondary markets.
Their Fan First Program is how they encourage fans to buy directly from them at face value rather than secondary sources.
This year’s playoff tickets will be released in phases – first with an exclusive pre-sale window for season ticket members, then for Fan First Program members and Chase cardholders, then finally with the general public release on Ticketmaster. Since launching ahead of the 2023 playoffs, the Fan First Program has grown to over 165,000 members.
Earlier this year, tickets for the Knicks’ home game against the Lakers were bought on secondary markets for an average of $912, according to TickPick – the most expensive since Kobe Bryant’s final game in 2016, as there was a chance it was LeBron James’ last-ever game at MSG. As the Knicks have become playoff regulars in recent years and now a team with finals expectations, prices have expectedly risen substantially.
But now, the hope is that there is a better opportunity to buy directly from the team at face value and that the secondary markets are less predatory.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
