If you watched the New York Knicks game last night, you no doubt noticed a lot of celebrities in the background. Madison Square Garden played host to Taylor Swift, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, Timothée Chalamet, Kylie Jenner, Mariska Hargitay, Tracy Morgan, Adam Sandler, John McEnroe, Spike Lee and dozens more famous faces. The first few rows were particularly star-studded given the team is in the NBA Finals, but even during the regular season, you can always spot recognizable people in the background. That’s because the Knicks actually give away tickets to celebrities, but there are reportedly expectations.
The specifics of how many tickets are available and who gets them are only known to the organization, but enough celebrities have talked about the basic process that we know, in general, how it works. Former players and celebrities send word to the team that they’d like to attend the game. Based on a variety of factors including celeb status, how often you go and what your relationship is to owner James Dolan, the team decides who is on the list and makes a seating chart.
The theory is that celebrities are part of the entertainment. Fans get a kick out of seeing them. Their presence makes Madison Square Garden feel more exclusive, and it adds some excitement to the background. That’s why the tickets are free, but the expectation is apparently that you’re paying attention and into the game, that you’ll appear on camera and that, in some cases, you’re willing to film quick little shoutouts or segments to play on the jumbotron.
Some celebrities reportedly aren’t interested in doing that. They’d rather attend games on their own terms. That’s allegedly why Spike Lee purchases his own tickets and why some celebrities are usually a few rows back from the action. They’d rather just be a paying customer like anyone else. Others like Ben Stiller, however, happily accept the free tickets and are always game to pump up the crowd and have their pictures taken.
There are, of course, consequences if you take the tickets and don’t follow the rules. A story went around a few years ago that Emily Ratajkowski and Irina Shayk were comped tickets in the Garden’s so-called celeb row but then left before the Knicks completed a big comeback in a key regular season game.
Ratajkowski reportedly asked for comp tickets to a Rangers game not long after, another team Dolan owns, and she was told she could buy tickets if she wanted to attend. An MSG spokesman even confirmed to Page Six on the record that they denied her comp tickets.
The Knicks definitely leave a lot of money on the table by giving away these seats. The richest in New York City were reportedly paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to sit near the floor during the last two games, but I get why the Knicks hold many of those seats for celebrities. It’s been so much fun watching videos of all the famous people reacting to OG Anunoby’s gamewinner, as well as talking about Taylor Swift's girl squad coordinated shirts, Tina Fey dealing with manspreading and more.
