Illustration: Zack Hackman

In an era of largely underwhelming professional sports in New York, the Knicks have emerged as one of the city’s most consistently winning teams — and with that, as one of the most expensive tickets in town. Editor Jeremy Rellosa spoke to season-ticket holders and superfans about buying cheap tickets that aren’t in the nosebleeds, the best time to get a hot dog, and the secret escalator for avoiding the throngs.

The Garden sells some single-game tickets on Ticketmaster at face value, but most tickets you see on that site and on StubHub will be more-expensive resale tickets. Omar Richardson, an MSG regular, prefers TickPick, which he says waives fees for buyers, and Thomas Kazi, a lifelong Knicks fan and season-ticket holder, likes the app’s price-freeze feature: “If the listed price changes and becomes more expensive than the frozen price, they’ll give you a credit you can use for the next game that you want to go to.” Set push notifications and acting quickly. “The best thing you can do is just wait, be patient, be persistent, find a budget, stick with it, and know it’s going to come down,” Kazi says.

Kazi recommends checking private fan groups on Facebook and Reddit, like New York Knicks Ticket Exchange, where ticket holders will often sell their seats without processing fees: “Once you develop a connection with a season-ticket holder, you want to stay connected with them because there’s always going to be an opportunity where they have something going on and they need to get rid of those tickets.”

Illustration: Zack Hackman

“There are a couple sections off to the corner that will typically be available, like sections 110, 111, 103, 104,” says CP “The Fanchise,” host of KnicksFanTV, who notes the good view. “You can sometimes get those cheaper than the rest of the lower bowl.” Kazi recommends the first row of the 200s, which has TVs in front of the seats: “I’ve sat there for a playoff game. It’s like sitting center court but not as expensive as the 100s.”

While the wait at the Garden generally isn’t bad, both Kazi and Richardson take a specific escalator that gets them to their seats faster. “If you go behind the curtain at the Kith pop-up store at the main entrance of MSG between 31st Street and 33rd Street, there’s a ticketing agency behind there and then there’s an escalator next to it. It’s usually never crowded on that side,” Richardson says.

Illustration: Zack Hackman

Going to the bathroom and grabbing food at halftime can take up a surprising amount of time, especially when everyone else in the arena has the same idea as you. “I leave at a minute before the half or at the first dead ball before,” Richardson says.

The Knicks will often have Sunday matinee games that are more family-friendly than other weekday matchups. Once a year, the Garden hosts Knicks Kids Day, which features pregame and halftime events.

“Arriving early allows you to see the guys shooting around and warming up,” CP says. “Last MLK Day, my son was down there by the players’ tunnel and got to high-five all of them as they were coming out.”

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If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the February 23, 2026, issue of
New York Magazine.

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