On Wednesday, you were all ready to buy one of those hot-off-the-presses Knicks tickets. You hopped onto Ticketmaster, clicked your usual section, and nearly fainted from the price. You clicked a cheaper section. Same unpleasant surprise. Finally, you selected the very worst seat in the house and it hit you: the only way you are going to see the Knicks play at MSG this season is if you sell the family cow.
If this happened to you, no, you can’t get that bony old Betsy back (and now you’re really out of luck for magic beans). But take heart—you might get a refund.
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Madison Square Garden Sports said Thursday that it had paused individual-game Knicks ticket sales because of “a mistake in our pricing.” The correct plan: prices will revert to last season’s levels plus an average increase of 12%, and sales will restart after the adjustment. Anybody who already purchased individual tickets at the erroneous prices will be refunded the difference.
The cheapest available seat for the October 20 banner-night opener against Philadelphia had climbed to $1,251, with some upper-deck seats listed above $1,000. If the sticker shock caused a loved one to die of a heart attack, MSG will send you a consolatory pin.
This is the first genuinely ugly collision between the Knicks’ championship and the fans who waited decades for it. We endured terrible basketball for years, finally got the big prize, and then discovered that seeing the banner raised might require a small home-equity loan.
So far, MSG has declined to say how many tickets were sold at the mistaken prices or how much it will refund. MSG corrected the error quickly and is refunding purchasers, which is commendable. But a 12% average increase is also an unpleasant hike in this economy. Mr. Dolan, what is the current price of milk?
Knicks in five.
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