The New York Knicks' first NBA Finals appearance in 25 years is heating up the ticket market. Even so-called 'nosebleed' seats located in the highest sections of the arena are trading at prices close to $4,000 (about 6.11 million KRW).

CNN reported on the 4th (KST) that ticket prices for the NBA Finals at New York's Madison Square Garden (MSG) are soaring to record highs.

According to the ticket marketplace TickPick, the lowest-priced admission for a New York home game is trading at about $3,973. That is roughly five times the lowest price for the same series in San Antonio.

The price gap is even more extreme. Some seats near courtside, where celebrities sit, have been listed on ticket sites for more than $220,000 (about 336.51 million KRW).

'Nosebleed' originally means a nosebleed in English. In sports arenas and at concerts, it refers to the cheapest tickets, from the joke that being so high up might give you a nosebleed.

The Knicks have reached the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. Their last championship was in 1973. The global symbolism of Madison Square Garden and the strong purchasing power of New York's sports fan base are also fueling the surge in prices. "Even wealthy fans are feeling the burden," said Sal Galatioto, head of sports investment bank Galatioto Sports Partners. "I'm a die-hard Knicks fan myself, but I'm not going to spend $100,000 to attend a game."

As ticket prices have soared, some fans are choosing to travel for road games. The current lowest prices for Games 1 and 2 in San Antonio are about $750 and $1,100, respectively. Even after adding about $700 for New York-San Antonio round-trip airfare and about $600 for a hotel, the total comes to around $3,150 - cheaper than a single New York home ticket. Arman Aimani, a 25-year-old office worker living in Manhattan, paid $1,800 for an upper-level seat and chose the trip to San Antonio. "Seeing the MSG ticket prices made reality sink in," he said. "The price of admission is higher than the average rent in New York." He added, "I felt I'd regret it more if I missed the moment I'd been waiting for since I was a kid."

Some fans have effectively given up on attending. Ray Cuenca, a Knicks fan who lives in Queens, bought $500 tickets per seat with his wife during the Eastern Conference Finals, but he cannot even consider the Finals this time. "The prices are crazy," he said. "I love the Knicks, but it's beyond what I can afford."

TickPick analyzed that for the price of a single lowest-cost ticket to this Finals, you could buy tickets to all remaining New York Mets and New York Yankees home games, plus New York Giants home games, and end up at roughly the same total. In other words, the cost of attending one NBA Finals game matches the cost of seeing 115 home games across New York's pro baseball and pro football teams.

The market also points to limited ticket supply as a factor pushing prices higher. After clinching a spot in the Finals, the Knicks did not conduct ticket sales to the general public. With the team's official sales channels constrained, demand concentrated in the resale market, driving prices even higher. "There is still an enormous amount of money in New York," explained Mark Ganis, head of the sports business consulting firm Sportscorp. "A booming stock market and demand from Wall Street financiers and celebrities are pushing ticket prices up." He added, "Basketball is among the sports most favored by New York's upper class, and this ticket market is a direct reflection of top-tier purchasing power."