For the first time since 1999, the New York Knicks have a home NBA Finals game at the iconic Madison Square Garden arena.
The team is up 2-0 on the San Antonio Spurs, two wins away from claiming its first NBA championship in 53 years, an event that could happen before the public company that owns the team is split up.
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New York Knicks Tickets in Hot Demand
The Knicks are in one of the largest TV markets and population areas for a professional sports team, making its championship run a huge revenue booster for several parties. Fans are paying up for tickets, with prices rivaling those of some Super Bowls.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment (NYSE:MSGE) owns the iconic namesake arena and is benefiting from home playoff games this season.
Madison Square Garden Sports (NYSE:MSGS) owns the New York Knicks, NHL's New York Rangers and other sports assets.
The Knicks have made the playoffs five of the past six seasons, including four straight postseasons. This marks the furthest the Knicks have made it in years, with an appearance in the NBA Finals. Last year, the team lost in the conference finals.
While the two Madison Square Garden public entities could win from the Knicks success in the playoffs, ticket companies are also benefiting from huge upfront demand for tickets and demand for resale tickets.
Live Nation (NYSE:LYV) owns Ticketmaster, which is the official ticketing partner of the Knicks. Stubhub Holdings (NYSE:STUB) offers resale tickets of the Knicks on one of the largest secondhand platforms.
Ticketmaster helped the Knicks sell tickets for Game 3, set for Monday night, with hundreds of thousands of people joining a virtual line to pay thousands of dollars for tickets.
At the time of writing, the cheapest resale tickets were $4,850 on Ticketmaster and $5,197 on Stubhub.
Some Knicks fans made the trip to San Antonio for Game 1 or Game 2, where the cost to fly and buy a ticket was less expensive than what they will pay Monday for Game 3.
Live Nation could end up being one of the bigger winners from the Knicks’ postseason run, able to capture service fees and additional revenue on the tickets sold at face value by the team to the public, tickets sold to season ticket holders and the tickets sold on the resale market.
While Knicks fans could be rooting for a sweep and the team to win in four games in the best-of-seven series, investors in Live Nation or Madison Square Garden stocks may be hoping the series gets extended.
A sweep would mean only two home games in the finals, while going to Game 6 in New York would mean three home games in the finals.
The Knicks swept their opponents in the last two rounds, knocking out potential revenue by having fewer games. This year's postseason has included seven home games ahead of Monday's game. Last year, the Knicks had nine home playoff games without reaching the finals for comparison.
Madison Square Garden Sports to Get Boost Too
Seaport Research Partners analyst David Joyce estimates the Knicks could get a $145 million revenue boost for its 2026 postseason success, as reported by FrontOfficeSports.
The analyst said the sweeps and fewer home games may have cost the team $29 million in missed revenue for the postseason, though.
Finals games are worth an estimated $20.3 million in revenue for the analyst, which means a sweep would be $40.6 million from the Finals, while having a third home game would mean $60.9 million in revenue.
That $145 million figure is extra revenue, as not reaching the postseason would have meant no revenue for the team over the last several weeks outside of low merchandise sales.
The analyst said the Knicks often raise their season ticket prices after making the playoffs, which could boost ticketing revenue next season. A championship could also make the team more popular and valued higher ahead of a potential spinoff by the parent company.
Analysts have been raising their price targets on Madison Square Garden Sports stock in recent weeks, potentially recognizing the extra revenue from the postseason run or seeing the boost in valuation the team could have ahead of next season.
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