Sporting Events; A Must In New York City!

Posted by Black Oak On October - 11 - 2007

It does not matter if you are man, woman, boy or girl, if you live in New York City, then you have to attend a New York sporting event at least once a year. It should actually be required by New York City law that you attend a sporting venue every 3 months, but I think that whole Constitution thingy frowns upon rules like that.

Let’s face it; sporting venues in New York City are unlike any other. The fans are rowdy, anxious, cranky and on edge, and those are just the effects of having paid too much for their tickets. Add to that the fact that New York athletes are paid an exorbitant amount of money (i.e. see the Yankees and Knicks), and New York fans demand more from their athletes than just about any other city in the United States.

New York City’s most notable professional teams include the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Liberty, Giants and Jets.

At the college level, you have the Columbia Lions, Fordham Rams, and St. John’s Redstorm.

In a city with so many professional sports teams, not to mention some great high school basketball squads and a few pro teams across the river in New Jersey, there is no reason not to attend just one event a year.

However, when it comes to watching the pros, that issue of paying too much for a ticket comes into question yet again. Rest assure, there are several ways to going to a sporting event that is well worth the price of admission.

Baseball: New York Yankees and New York Mets – These are both tickets that come with a high relative premium in New York City. The fortunate thing is that baseball tickets are generally cheaper than any other venue because of the amount of games available to the consumer. The best way to get a good deal on tickets for the Mets and Yankees is to go when they are playing a horrible team. So try to catch a home game with the Kansas City Royals or Tampa Bay Devil Rays come to town. The games are all at night and they all sell out, so it will feel just like any other game. Besides with the Yankees’ and Mets’ pitching, every team that comes to New York has a chance to make it a close game.

Basketball: New York Knicks – This is unquestionably the most expensive seat in town. Knicks’ floor seats go for prices that are out of this world. Moreover, even season tickets a couple rows up from the sideline will cost you a middle-income salary. The most valuable ticket to see the Knicks play at Madison Square Garden is up in the cheap seats. Yeah, it’s further away then you like, but they are always full and you can see the game just fine and at the same level as the reporters in the press box. Try getting ticket pages before the season starts when tickets are going for as low as $40 a ticket.

Hockey: New York Rangers and Islanders – For those of you who want to see the Islanders play, I have good news. They cannot give these tickets away. Therefore, your best value ticket is one you get from a radio station or other promotion. Rangers’ fans will have a more difficult time finding value at the Garden, however, GoodCheapSeats.com has great deals on Rangers tickets and they always seem to be in good supply at their site…go figure!

Football: New York Giants and Jets – As far as an entire league goes, the NFL has the most expensive ticket in all of sports, so you can imagine that finding a good value at the Meadowlands, where both the Jets and Giants play, is quite arduous. The only real suggestion to get tickets to these football teams is to buy them straight from the Jets and Giants themselves. Stay away from the season ticket packages though, as you will be forced to pay for the pre-season games, and you will certainly lose out on some value.