Close Menu
The Stadium BusinessThe Stadium Business
  • News
  • Projects
  • Operations
  • Business
  • Job Listings
    • Job Dashboard
  • Insights
  • Meetings
    • The Stadium Business Summit
    • Design & Development Summit
    • The Stadium Business Asia
    • The Ticketing Business Forum
    • The Ticketing Business Asia
  • Regions
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
LATEST:
  • Shah Alam Sports Complex set for major redevelopment
  • Council ends negotiations over Salford Community Stadium sale
  • EV Zug, St. Gallen agree naming rights deals
  • United Center to introduce Banner Level, Monaco extends with Roche Bobois
  • Roig Arena lands CaixaBank as third founding partner
  • Air taxis to connect venues at LA28
YouTube LinkedIn Flickr
Register for #SBS25
The Stadium BusinessThe Stadium Business
  • News
  • Projects
  • Operations
  • Business
  • Job Listings
    • Job Dashboard
  • Insights
  • Meetings
    • The Stadium Business Summit
    • Design & Development Summit
    • The Stadium Business Asia
    • The Ticketing Business Forum
    • The Ticketing Business Asia
  • Regions
Subscribe
The Stadium BusinessThe Stadium Business
Home»Features»Fans head back to New York venues for Knicks, Nets games

Fans head back to New York venues for Knicks, Nets games

NewsEditorBy NewsEditor24th February 20214 Mins Read Features Industry News 325 Views
Share
Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Email WhatsApp Copy Link

Fans returned to New York City sports venues yesterday (Tuesday) for the first time since the outbreak of COVID-19 as Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center hosted New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets NBA basketball games.

Madison Square Garden welcomed around 2,000 fans as the Knicks fell to a 114-106 defeat against the Golden State Warriors. Earlier this month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that venues with a capacity of 10,000 or more would be permitted to stage events with a limited number of spectators from February 23, paving the way for the state’s sports teams to welcome fans back.

The announcement came on the back of a successful fan pilot programme involving the Buffalo Bills NFL American football team, which welcomed more than 6,000 spectators for its game against the Indianapolis Colts last month.

Venues and events in the state of New York are required to follow similar guidelines to those in place for the Bills game. Department of Health approval is required, with a 10% capacity limit to be put in place along with testing requirements, mandatory face coverings, temperature checks and socially distanced seating.

All staff and spectators at venues are required to receive a negative COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours of the event. Fans’ contact information is also being collected to support contact tracing efforts.

No place like The Garden and no fans like ours. #NewYorkForever pic.twitter.com/dDxKHkaBkm

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 24, 2021

Madison Square Garden, home of the Knicks and NHL ice hockey team the New York Rangers, had detailed plans to host around 2,000 fans at every game, beginning with the Knicks’ game against the Warriors and the Rangers’ game against the Boston Bruins on Friday.

However, it was the visiting team that emerged triumphant in front of a crowd of around 2,000 yesterday, with Warriors star Stephen Curry hailing the impact of fans being back in the arena.

“There were some fans heckling, which was awesome, and me and Draymond (Green) were talking about it: There’s no better feeling — I don’t care if it’s 19,000 or 2,500 or whatever it is — you love silencing a road crowd,” said Curry, according to the Associated Press news agency. “So that was a cool experience considering not many arenas have had fans this year and it does make a huge difference.”

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said the return of fans represented “a first step back toward normalcy,” while a team spokesman said the game was a sellout and everyone who attended passed their health screening.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said: “Even just having a couple thousand fans makes a difference. It just feels more normal, more real. The crowd noise actually shows up at the exact right time and not canned laughter like in a sitcom.”

Knicks fan Elgin Swift said he happily paid $100 (£71/€82) for a ticket, adding the game represented a chance to regain part of his pre-pandemic life. “It’s almost just a sense of relief to feel like we’re taking steps toward normality,” Swift told the Reuters news agency. “For 2.5 hours today I’m going to feel closer to normality than I’ve felt since last year.”

Things you just love to hear: real crowd noise 🗣️🗣️🗣️ pic.twitter.com/dfpFbzotUu

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) February 24, 2021

In Brooklyn, the Barclays Center has taken a steadier approach to the return of fans. Some 300 were in place for yesterday’s 127-118 win over the Sacramento Kings, with this figure set to rise to 1,800 by early March.

Barclays Center dispensed novel coronavirus testing kits to all ticketholders in advance and also required fans to submit to an on-site nasal swab for antigen rapid testing, before entering. Spectators were spread out in pods of two or four seats and were required to wear a face mask at all time, aside from when eating or drinking.

Image: Ajay Suresh/CC BY 2.0/Edited for size

Barclays Center Brooklyn Nets Fan Attendance Madison Square Garden NBA New York New York Knicks
Follow on Google News Follow on RSS
Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email WhatsApp Copy Link
Previous ArticleTwins increase fan attendance efforts with Venuetize deal
Next Article San Lorenzo reveals plans for return home
NewsEditor

Related Posts

Features

Designing a ‘seamless guest journey that drives fan re-engagement’ – AECOM’s Andrea Patry

28th April 20251,157 Views
Design & Development

Buffalo Pro Soccer set to build new stadium

16th April 2025369 Views
Features

Putting women’s sport at the heart of BC Place’s events strategy

15th April 2025298 Views

Get this News delivered to your inbox

Top Posts

Shah Alam Sports Complex set for major redevelopment

16th May 20254 Mins Read

Council ends negotiations over Salford Community Stadium sale

16th May 20254 Mins Read
YouTube LinkedIn Flickr
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Job Listings
  • Contact Us
Copyright © 2025 Xperiology. All rights reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

X We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However you may visit Settings to provide a controlled consent.
Read More Settings ACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
__cf_bm30 minutesThis cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management.
__lc_cid2 yearsThis is an essential cookie for the website live chat box to function properly.
__lc_cst2 yearsThis cookie is used for the website live chat box to function properly.
__oauth_redirect_detectorpastThis cookie is used to recognize the visitors using live chat at different times inorder to optimize the chat-box functionality.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
last_pys_landing_page7 daysAnonymous cookie used to facilitate the 'PixelYourSite' plugin which manages our analytical services.
last_pysTrafficSource7 daysAnonymous cookie used to facilitate the 'PixelYourSite' plugin which manages our analytical services.
pys_first_visit7 daysAnonymous cookie used to facilitate the 'PixelYourSite' plugin which manages our analytical services.
pys_landing_page7 daysAnonymous cookie used to facilitate the 'PixelYourSite' plugin which manages our analytical services.
pys_session_limit1 hourAnonymous cookie used to facilitate the 'PixelYourSite' plugin which manages our analytical services.
pys_start_sessionsessionAnonymous cookie used to facilitate the 'PixelYourSite' plugin which manages our analytical services.
pysTrafficSource7 daysAnonymous cookie used to facilitate the 'PixelYourSite' plugin which manages our analytical services.
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
vuid2 yearsVimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos to the website.
advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysA cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSCsessionYSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
Save & Accept