If you’re a Knicks fan looking to purchase tickets to any games during New York’s first-round playoff matchup against the Pistons that are taking place in Detroit, you’re going to need a credit card billing address in the Michigan area — or help from someone who has one.
The Pistons have restricted purchases for all possible home games of the matchup (Games 3, 4, and 6) to those who have a credit card billing address located in “Michigan and in certain parts of Ohio, Indiana and Ontario, Canada.”
Knicks fans are notorious for traveling well, and have recently made some road arenas sound like Madison Square Garden, including during last season’s first-round games against the 76ers in Philadelphia.
The ploy the Pistons are implementing — though a team spokesperson asserted to The New York Post that they’re not intentionally trying to keep Knicks fans out of the arena — has become common for playoff games across the four major American sports.
The Carolina Hurricanes do it regularly, and even the Yankees have done it recently.
As far as the Knicks and Pistons, this is their first playoff matchup since the 1991-92 season, when the Knicks prevailed in five games in what was then a best-of-five first-round series.
While certain fans will be restricted from purchasing directly from the team/Ticketmaster, there’s seemingly nothing preventing them from scooping up ducats on the secondary market.
Game 1 of the Knicks-Pistons series tips off at Madison Square Garden on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Read the full article here