Pistons restricting ticket sales to limit Knicks fans
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson collides with Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham while going to the basket during the first half of an NBA game on Thursday in Detroit. Credit: AP/Duane Burleson
The Detroit Pistons have not hosted a playoff game at Little Caesars Arena in six years and are intent on not allowing Knicks fans to take over when the teams meet in Games 3 and 4 in the opening round. The Pistons are restricting sales of playoff tickets to locals only.
There are no dates set for those games, but the Pistons already have moved to try to keep their home games from mimicking those that Knicks fans have crowded into and sounded louder than the home fans. That most recently happened in Philadelphia last season in the opening round of the playoffs.
On the page for Pistons postseason tickets on Ticketmaster, this message was posted at the top of the page:
“To better serve local fans looking to attend the playoff games at Little Caesars Arena, the Detroit Pistons are restricting tickets sales to customers located in Michigan and in certain parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Ontario, Canada, as determined by the Pistons and subject to change.
“A customer’s eligibility to purchase tickets for this game is determined by the credit card billing address utilized for the transaction. Orders by customers with a billing address outside the restricted sales area will be canceled without notice, and those customers will receive a refund.”
This will not restrict fans from buying on the secondary market or Knicks fans in the area of those local markets from purchasing on Ticketmaster. But Detroit has not typically been one of the arenas that are overwhelmed by Knicks fans.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
