There are conflicting reports about the New York Knicks canceling watch parties for Game 3 of the NBA Finals with the San Antonio Spurs because President Donald Trump will be attending the game.
According to Nicole Sganga of CBS News, there is expected to be a “hard closure” around the Knicks’ home arena, Madison Square Garden, for Game 3 of the NBA Finals because Trump will be going to the game and the plan is for watch parties to be canceled as a result.
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CBS News notes that there will be “hundreds of U.S. Secret Service officers and agents deployed” around MSG and “thousands of New York Police Department personnel.”
“A hard closure is expected around the entirety of Madison Square Garden,” the report states. Officials are planning for no watch parties, no vehicle access and no pedestrian travel through the secured area, which sits in a busy part of Midtown Manhattan and is above a major transit hub.”
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However, SNY’s Ian Begley reports that no decision has been made on whether or not watch parties around the arena will indeed be canceled.
“Hearing no decision has been made yet either way re: watch parties for Game 3,” Begley wrote on X.
As we’ve seen in videos posted to social media, watch parties have been a big thing in New York City since the start of the NBA Finals, with thousands attending them outside MSG.
If those watch parties around the arena are canceled, it’s safe to say Knicks fans will not be happy about it.
The ridiculous cost for tickets
New York Knicks fans react in the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn ImagesOne reason watch parties will once again be popular for Game 3 is because your average Knicks fan simply can’t afford to buy tickets to get inside MSG.
According to TickPick, the get-in price for Game 3 is an astounding $11,461 on the secondary market, and that was as of Friday evening. That price has likely gone up since then.
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For Game 4, which could be a series-clinching game with the Knicks up 2-0, the ticket is even more expensive, with a get-in price of $13,065 as of a few days ago.
While Knicks fans are having an impossible time getting seats for the team’s home games in this series, they had no issue getting into the Spurs’ home arena for Games 1 and 2, when Knicks fans could clearly be heard.
For example, the get-in price for Game 2 was $635. That’s still a hefty amount, no doubt, but it was at least doable.
The same cannot be said for the astronomical ticket prices at MSG.