The NBA season is near tip-off, and RotoWire.com priced out a night at all of the NBA’s 30 arenas for a family of four in terms of tickets (via live SeatGeek prices, with fees included), parking, beer, soda, and hot dogs.
The average family night out at an NBA game is $343.18 and the median is $286.11, ranging from $167.97 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans to $1,276.60 at Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan. Nine of the league’s teams topped $400 for the night, and 12 came in under $250.
RotoWire’s break down of the cost can be a useful starting point and practical guide for today’s families. Here are the cheapest — and most expensive — NBA arenas for families ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Key Findings
The NBA spread is massive as a night out at a New York Knicks game costs 7.6 times a night at a New Orleans Pelicans game. The whole Pelicans night, at $167.97, costs less than a single average cheapest seat at Madison Square Garden, at $294.
With veteran superstar LeBron James in Philadelphia, the 23 games in the survey sample that featured the 76ers on the road now have the cheapest seat that costs a median of 3.0 times the host team’s average. That includes $1,124 for one person, or $4,496 for four people, at Madison Square Garden for Opening Night on October 20 — the priciest game in the survey data.
Tickets made up 74% of the average bill. Parking ranged from the Oklahoma City Thunder’s lowly $13.57 to the 76ers’ lofty $51.06 across the 26 NBA arenas where SeatGeek sells parking passes.
Cheapest NBA Arenas for Families
The cheapest NBA arenas for families start with the New Orleans Pelicans’ Smoothie King Center, with a low-priced average of $167.97.
The Memphis Grizzlies’ FedExForum trailed the Pelicans, with $177.48. The Utah Jazz’s Delta Center ranked third, with $554.23. The Charlotte Hornets’ Spectrum Center placed fourth, with $206.37. The Washington Wizards’ Capital One Arena rounded out the low-cost five, with $209.11.
Most Expensive NBA Arenas for Families
The most expensive NBA arenas for families start with the New York Knicks’ Madison Square Garden, with a big-budget average of $1,276.60.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ Crypto.com Arena trailed the Knicks, with $566.77. The Philadelphia 76ers’ Xfinity Mobile Arena ranked third, with $554.23. The Boston Celtics’ TD Garden placed fourth, with $493.49. The Minnesota Timberwolves’ Target Center rounded out the high-priced five, with $477.56.
Methodology
On September 30, 2026, RotoWire.com recorded the cheapest available single-seat listing on SeatGeek for each home game, including SeatGeek’s fees but not sales tax. They multiplied it by four and averaged it across up to each team’s first 25 dated regular-season home games.
Preseason games, three neutral-site games in Mexico City, Paris, and Manchester, and one undated NBA Cup flex game per team were excluded, while NBA Cup group games were included. The prices for 22 teams were read in whole dollars, which understated each seat by about $0.50, or about $2 per family of four.
The cheapest pre-purchased pass on SeatGeek for each home game, averaged over the 13 to 18 home games with passes on sale through late December. SeatGeek’s list mentioned zero passes for the Pelicans, Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, and Utah Jazz, as these four use the Bookies.com figure.
Two 16-ounce beers, two 20-ounce sodas, and four hot dogs at each NBA arena were gathered from Bookies.com’s NBA cost-to-attend data. The Phoenix Suns’ hot dogs reflected the Suns’ $2 Value Menu.
The resale prices change every day, so all of these numbers should be treated as a snapshot.
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