
The Philadelphia 76ers are restricting ticket sales for their playoff games against the Knicks to residents of the Greater Philadelphia area to prevent Knicks fans from dominating the arena. This measure aims to maintain home-court advantage during the series.
The rabid Knicks fan base turned the Atlanta Hawks’ State Farm Arena into Madison Square Garden South for the first round of the playoffs. Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers don’t want the same to happen to the Xfinity Mobile Arena for their second-round playoff series against the Knicks this week.
So as a precautionary measure, the Sixers organization decided to limit who can purchase tickets to Games 3, 4 and 6 of the series, announcing in a memo sales have been “restricted to residents of Greater Philadelphia area” on Saturday.
“Residency will be based on credit card billing address,” the memo reads. “Orders by residents outside Greater Philadelphia area will be canceled without notice and refunds given.”
The goal for the Sixers is simple: prevent Knicks fans from infiltrating their arena and neutralizing Philadelphia’s home-court advantage. It’s a message Embiid delivered to the fans immediately after the Sixers eliminated the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference playoff series on Saturday.
“I just have a message for our fans. Last time we played the Knicks, it felt like this [our home arena] was Madison Square Garden East. So we gonna need the support. Don’t sell your tickets. This is bigger than you,” he said. “We need you guys, the atmosphere that we’ve had the last couple games in Philly, especially the last one pushing it to Game 7. We need all of it. I don’t care if it’s 70-30, it’s Knicks fans.
“They travel, and they’re gonna buy the tickets and it’s gonna be some people that need the money and are probably gonna sell the tickets — but don’t do it. We need you guys, and we’ve got a pretty good chance. We’re gonna need that support, we’re gonna need them to be extremely loud, and if you need money, I got you.”
Knicks fans are notorious for flooding road arenas, most notable along the east coast in cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington D.C., Miami and, of course, Philadelphia, just a 90-minute drive from MSG.
Knicks forward Josh Hart said after practice on Sunday he believes fans will find a way around the restrictions. Philadelphia residents can still purchase tickets and resell them on secondary markets.
The 76ers are restricting ticket sales to local residents to prevent Knicks fans from overwhelming their home games and to maintain a strong home-court advantage.
The enforcement will be based on the credit card billing address, with orders from non-residents being canceled and refunded.
Joel Embiid urged fans to keep their tickets and support the team, emphasizing the need for a strong home atmosphere against the Knicks.
The restricted playoff games are Games 3, 4, and 6 of the series against the Knicks.

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“The good thing about New Yorkers, man, they’re persistent. They don’t care. They’re gonna do it and for a lot of people, everything revolves around money, and if they can get a good price for those tickets,” said Hart. “They’re gonna sell ’em. And New Yorkers, man, they’re passionate about the Knicks and they’re gonna come out and show love.”
Plus ticket prices tend to be so exorbitant at The Garden that the price of traveling to a rival city, purchasing a hotel and a ticket to an away playoff game tends to be lower than the cost of entry to a home postseason game.
Just a quick bus, train or car ride away, expect fans to find a work-around — especially with a playoff series on the line.
“Knicks fans travel. They’re probably the best fans in terms of traveling and going to games and doing those kind of things, probably cause it might be cheaper to do that than to go to The Garden, but that’s our fans,” said Hart. “They love New York Knciks basketball. They’re passionate about it and we love it. We need them to come out and support home games but most importantly when we’re on the road, so it’s nice that that’s an hour-and-45-minute drive.”