Knicks to charge $3k for new luxurious section at home turf

The New York Knicks hit major news headlines this week after an announcement that fans can now pay a whopping $3,000 for a ticket on a brand new section of ultra-premium courtside seats at Madison Square Garden.

The New York Post’s Josh Kosman reported that the earnings call on Thursday this week confirmed the addition of new courtside and floor seating to the Knicks’ home turf. However, the franchise refrained to provide specifics other than the expected price as well as the seating location.

“New York Knicks courtside seats are located right next to the scorer’s table and an arms-length away from the players on the floor. The best Knicks courtside seats are described as Scorer’s Table Seats and fill out the sideline on either side of the scorer’s table,” the site reads.

The grand section of the stadium is located in the front row right next to the scorer’s table and much closer to players, or only “an arms-length away”, the Knicks wrote on their official site. Tickets for such luxurious seating will be sold for up to $3,000.

The franchise also confirmed that pricing on regular tickets will not be affected. This is in line with owner James Dolan’s ticketing policy to only increase prices when the Knicks are qualified for the postseason.

Shocking price

Charging $3,000 was a slight shocker to many, provided that it came from a team whose playoffs run last season was far from stellar. In addition, the Knicks were only able to make it into two playoffs in the past decade.

However, there are still die-hard fans who are willing to dry up their wallet for the Knicks. Last season, Madison Square Garden’s gate receipts average was $2.99 million, or third in the NBA, Kosman reported. The average revenue was only a little over $1 million behind the leading Golden State Warriors, whose per-game average reached $4.2 million.

Aside from the Knicks, Madison Square Garden is also home to the New York Rangers of the NHL. According to The Post, the addition of a new section was likely made due to the growing amount of ticket renewals for both sports. The stadium reported this week that there is a 91 percent growth in season ticket renewal for both teams. Additionally, the stadium’s shares also rose to 5.9 percent.

Bashing off rumors

On a separate occasion, the news about healthy businesses in Madison Square Garden, also, to some extent, bashed off any rumors that Dolan will sell the Knicks as well as their icy brothers, the Rangers.

These rumors spread like wildfire over the last weekend after Jonathan Boyar, a president of an equity research group, projected that both franchises will be sold after the completion of MSG Sphere, an upcoming sphere-shaped entertainment arena in Paradise, Nevada, which was expected to wrap construction in the second half of 2023.

“We think it’s likely that after that is done, James Dolan, who controls the company, will sell the teams,” Boyar said when he appeared on CNBC's Closing Bell: Overtime.

Madison Square Garden senior VP of communications and marketing, Natalie Ravitz, had responded to the claim. Via The Post, Ravitz said: “We have no plans to sell either of the teams”.