The Ever-Expanding Knicks Home Court Presence

Jalen Brunson is at the free throw line late in the fourth quarter. As he goes through his routine, the arena grows louder. In a sweeping chorus, he hears "M-V-P, M-V-P" as he hits the free throw. The only thing is: these chants are not at Madison Square Garden, but rather at an opposing arena.

It's no secret that the Knicks have a global fan base fiercely passionate about the team. What has been a bit of a surprise is how many arenas throughout the Eastern Conference have been taken over by Knicks fans in the Jalen Brunson era. The phenomenon is a combination of a national footprint and the rapidly increasing cost of attending a game at the World's Most Famous Arena.

One of the benefits that the Knicks enjoy in relation to the reach of their fans is just how old the team is. The Knicks were founded in 1946 and are one of the founding members of the NBA. The Knicks and the Boston Celtics are the only two teams from those early days that never relocated and never changed names, meaning they have a foundation of support and fandom to rest upon.

As a result, the Knicks span generations, enabling fandom to be passed on through family lineage. They also have the benefit of playing in the largest market in the United States—New York City—in one of the most iconic venues in pop culture: Madison Square Garden.

It's also important to note that of the 20.7 million people born in New York, 8.5 million of them moved to other states (most notably Florida, New Jersey, California, and Pennsylvania). Because the Knicks were the sole New York option for professional basketball for decades, that fandom has travelled with those who left the state.

It is, therefore, incredibly likely that any city with a professional basketball team has thousands of Knicks fans in its midst. And because Knicks fandom is often fiercely loyal and rabid, it is also reasonable to conclude that they would attend games whenever they can.

It is safe to assume that non-New York residents who are Knicks fans will try their best to attend games when the Knicks are in town. But it is additionally logical to assume that many fans will find it more economical to travel to a different arena to watch their team because the cost of attending games at Madison Square Garden has become prohibitive.

Currently, tickets to watch the Knicks at Madison Square Garden start as low as $148 per ticket against the Wizards and as high as $568 per ticket against the Lakers. Those are for tickets in the upper bowl—for seats in the lower bowl against the Lakers, tickets exceed $1,000 per seat (pricing information via SeatGeek).

Even against the lowly Wizards, lower-bowl tickets often exceed $300 a seat, which, for a majority of fans, is simply not feasible. So, the alternative is to travel to visiting arenas to be able to see their team play.

Sticking with the Wizards example, it would cost between $400-800 per seat to sit in the lower level around midcourt at Madison Square Garden. Similar seats at the Capital One Arena when the Knicks visit the Wizards can be had for $230 per ticket.

New Yorkers can take a train from New York to Washington DC for $58 per passenger or a bus for $30 per passenger, meaning that for a little more than the cost of one ticket to the Garden, a group of two can travel to Washington DC and watch their favorite team.

The most economical option for fans unable to travel will likely be to watch the game at Barclays Center when the team plays the crosstown Brooklyn Nets, with tickets often being $100-200 less than if the same matchup took place at the Garden.

Ticket pricing is always fluid, but the Knicks have always ranked highly when it comes to average ticket prices alongside the Lakers and Heat. Considering the market and the notoriety of the arena, this isn't a surprise—even if it does smack heavily of fan exploitation. There is a side effect, however: opposing teams are aware of it and are concerned their arena will be overtaken by orange and blue when the Knicks are in town.

A joke told often among Knicks fans is that road games in Washington, Charlotte, Miami, and Atlanta are taking place at "MSG South." Knicks fans have proven a willingness to cross state lines to watch their team perform, especially when the pricing discrepancy is so large throughout the regular season.

This extends to playoff matchups as well, like when the Knicks met the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round in 2024. After an invasion of New York fans into Wells Fargo Center during Games 3 and 4, 76ers ownership reserved 2,000 tickets to prevent Knicks fans from being so vocal during the Sixers’ home games.

The same happened last year in the first round series against Detroit. To prevent traveling New Yorkers from invading Little Caesars Arena, the Pistons geofenced ticket sales to residents in Michigan. The rub is that Michigan (as of 2022) had over 86,000 native New Yorkers living in the state.

The fear that both the Sixers and Pistons management teams felt is a testament to the commitment and ubiquity of Knicks fans. The team has massive reach and a fan base that will gladly travel to support it.

That being said, it is incredibly unfortunate that local New Yorkers who don't have the means to travel for the games don't have much of an option. Luckily, New York City does have countless viewing party options (like KFTV’s), and watch parties organized by the team during the playoffs were also a huge success last season.

In an interview with Yahoo Sports, Knicks fan George Quni was asked why he traveled from New York City to Boston to watch Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Celtics. He said, "It's $600 cheaper to get here, even with the bus. The Garden is a luxury."

There is an appreciation for the Garden as hallowed ground for fans, and that makes the prospect of traveling to other arenas within the conference a bit of a no-brainer. It's a testament to the loyalty of the fans and a massive advantage for the Knicks, since it takes away some of what makes playing on the road (especially in the playoffs) so challenging.

The Knicks are incredibly fortunate to have the fans they have, defined by passion and by an unquenched desire to see the team’s success. That has translated to multiple home court advantages that many other teams in the NBA cannot enjoy. And that is a luxury that other fan bases simply do not enjoy.