NBA

Lakers vs. Knicks at MSG is driving record NBA regular-season ticket demand

Jan 30, 2026

·

Max Meyer

For the first time in months, Sunday night arrives without football on the calendar. With the Super Bowl still a week away, sports fans looking for a marquee event on Feb. 1 are turning their attention to Madison Square Garden, and they’re doing so in record numbers.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ visit to face the New York Knicks on Sunday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. ET currently holds the highest average resale ticket price for any NBA regular-season game in SeatGeek’s database, checking in at $1,084.48. 

Knicks ticket demand at MSG keeps climbing

Demand for Knicks games at Madison Square Garden has surged over the past two seasons, well beyond one-off marquee matchups.

  • Average Knicks MSG resale ticket price this season: $491.19

  • Last season: $410.48

That year-over-year jump has pushed the Knicks well ahead of every other NBA team at home, with the Lakers ($339.18) and Warriors ($269.86) the next closest.

Ten of the top 12 games this NBA regular season by average ticket price are Knicks home games, with the two exceptions being Rockets at Lakers on Christmas (third, $682.83) and Warriors at Lakers on the opening night of the season (eighth, $565.23). 

The record-setting figure fits within a broader trend that’s been building at Madison Square Garden.

Lakers-Knicks is the most in-demand NBA regular season game ever

Historically, only a handful of NBA regular-season games have approached this level of demand, and until now, the record holder came with once-in-a-generation context.

The game previously with the highest average resale price was Kobe Bryant’s final game, which ended up at $977.42 back on April 13, 2016. 

  1. Lakers-Knicks: $1,084.48 (2/1/2026)

  2. Jazz-Lakers: $977.42 (4/13/2016)

  3. Lakers-Knicks: $934.14 (2/1/2025)

  4. Lakers-Celtics: $874.11 (3/8/2025)

  5. Cavaliers-Knicks: $872.41 (12/25/2025)

Recent Knicks home games, though, take up three slots on this list, including the Christmas matchup earlier this season when the Cavaliers came to town. 

Lakers-Knicks ticket demand dwarfs rest of Sunday’s NBA slate

The get-in price for Lakers-Knicks ($436) is higher than the combined get-in prices of the other nine NBA games being played that Sunday ($319). That includes other intriguing contests such as Thunder at Nuggets, Magic at Spurs and Bucks at Celtics. 

While fans typically spread attention across a full NFL slate on a Sunday, the first NBA Sunday without NFL has seen demand consolidating around one marquee matchup.

Comparing Lakers-Knicks ticket demand to the NFL playoffs

Speaking of the NFL, the appetite for this Lakers-Knicks game extends beyond basketball benchmarks and closer to the top games on the gridiron.

Lakers-Knicks currently carries a higher average resale price than 11 of the 12 NFL playoff games played so far this postseason, with only the NFC Championship between the Rams and Seahawks exceeding it. That comparison underscores how rare it is for a regular-season NBA game to command demand on par with win-or-go-home football.

Any other factors for the record demand behind Lakers-Knicks?

This is the only Lakers visit to Madison Square Garden this season, adding natural scarcity to the matchup. While there’s been no official announcement regarding LeBron James’ future, the reality that the 41-year-old superstar is in the twilight of his career adds an unspoken layer of urgency for fans who want to see him at basketball’s most iconic venue.

Still, the demand surge doesn’t rely on retirement speculation. Knicks home games have consistently driven some of the league’s strongest resale markets over the past two seasons. Sunday’s Lakers-Knicks matchup is simply the latest example of that sustained demand.

Highest average resale ticket prices for any game this NBA regular season:

1. Lakers-Knicks: $1,084.48 (2/1/2026)

2. Cavaliers-Knicks: $872.41 (12/25/2025)

3. Rockets-Lakers: $682.83 (12/25/2025)

4. Cavaliers-Knicks: $678.40 (10/22/2025)

5. Bucks-Knicks: $619.37 (11/28/2025)

6. 76ers-Knicks: $576.95 (12/19/2025)

7. Heat-Knicks: $566.88 (12/21/2025)

8. Warriors-Lakers: $565.23 (10/21/2025)

9. Hawks-Knicks: $555.48 (1/2/2026)

10. 76ers-Knicks: $549.34 (1/3/2026)

11. Celtics-Knicks: $547.35 (10/24/2025)

12. Heat-Knicks: $529.53 (11/14/2025)