Sports Tickets Weekly Episode 15: A race for seventeen dollars (2026)

This week's ticket question is blunt. What are you actually paying for at the gate — the stakes on the game, or the building the game is played in?

The two answers sit at opposite ends of one board. Sunday's cheapest seat in Buffalo, in a stadium that opened two weeks ago, is 240 dollars. Saturday's cheapest seat in Kansas City, for the game that leads the American League Central, is 17 dollars.

Every price below is a resale snapshot taken on September 24, 2026, shortly after noon Eastern. Vivid Seats displays all-in prices, with taxes and delivery potentially separate, and TickPick advertises no service fee on top of its listed price. Three marketplaces were readable for the football game and three for the Chicago baseball game. SeatGeek's pages did not load for us, so this is not a four-market consensus.

Basketball: the champions have one open file

The Knicks won their first title in 53 years in June, going 16-3 through the playoffs. The man in the middle of that run is unsigned. Extension talks between New York and Karl-Anthony Towns have stalled, and ESPN reported on September 23 that no movement has happened lately, with an agreement considered unlikely as camp begins. 1

Towns is eligible for an extension of up to four years and 276 million dollars. He turns 31 in mid-November, is due 57 million this season and holds a 61 million player option for 2027-28. He averaged 15.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists on 55 percent shooting in last season's playoffs. 1

The constraint behind the stall is the second apron, which the owner has said he wants to avoid; backup center Mitchell Robinson left for Boston this offseason. None of that prices a building. Media days run through September 28, training camps open September 29, the first preseason games are October 3, and the regular season opens October 20 with Boston-Detroit, Philadelphia-New York and Oklahoma City-San Antonio. 2

Hockey: the night a captain comes back

Alex Ovechkin was a full participant at Washington's practice on Thursday after a lower-body injury kept him off the ice for three days. His coach called it a good step but would not commit to Ovechkin playing in the last preseason game, and the Capitals open the season at Carolina on October 2. The 41-year-old has not played a preseason game this year. 3

The context cuts both ways. Camp and the preseason are shorter under the new collective bargaining agreement, with four preseason games instead of six or eight. Last year Ovechkin missed the first four preseason games with a lower-body injury, then played all 82 regular-season games and led Washington with 32 goals and 64 points. 3

The date worth putting in a calendar belongs to someone else. Brady Tkachuk was traded to Florida on June 21 to play with his brother Matthew, after five seasons as Ottawa's captain and 463 points in a Senators uniform. He returns to Ottawa on October 21. 4

Baseball: four days and one game

The regular season ends Sunday, and the tightest race in the sport is one game wide. Cleveland (82-76) leads the White Sox (81-77) in the American League Central, and Chicago also holds the last American League wild card, with Texas three games back and Baltimore three and a half. 5 6

The AL West is stranger. Houston and Texas are both 78-80 and tied at the top, so the division could be won with a losing record for the first time in a full 162-game season, and the loser takes the third wild card. 5

Most of the field is set. Tampa Bay won the AL East with 96 wins; the Yankees and Red Sox are both in and would meet in the wild-card round as things stand. Milwaukee has 99 wins and the best record in baseball, with the Dodgers and Braves as the other National League division winners, and San Diego, Philadelphia and the Cubs lined up for the wild cards ahead of Arizona, three games back. 5

Clinching scenarios for Thursday: Cleveland can clinch a berth with a win, or a Texas loss, or a Houston loss; the White Sox clinch with a win; San Diego and the Cubs each clinch with a win or an Arizona loss; Philadelphia needs a win and help. 5

Both race teams close at home against teams with nothing to play for: Cleveland is at Kansas City (68-90) and Chicago hosts Colorado (57-101). 6 7

Football: the new building opens loud

Buffalo beat Detroit 41-31 in the first game at the Bills' new stadium, with Josh Allen throwing five touchdown passes and James Cook running for 135 yards. Jared Goff threw four touchdowns in a losing effort. 8

The rest of Week 2: Carolina 34-3 over Atlanta, Minnesota 9-3 over Chicago in the rain, Philadelphia 24-20 over Tennessee on a touchdown with nine seconds left, New England 20-3 over Pittsburgh, Green Bay 20-17 over the Jets in overtime, Cleveland 23-19 over Tampa Bay, New Orleans 24-17 over Baltimore, Cincinnati 20-6 over Houston, Denver 20-13 over Jacksonville, Las Vegas 26-14 over the Chargers, Dallas 37-20 over Washington, Seattle 31-7 over Arizona, San Francisco 35-13 over Miami, and Kansas City 33-30 over Indianapolis in overtime on a 40-yard field goal. 8

Week 3 opens Thursday with Atlanta at Green Bay, where Green Bay is favored by 4.5. Sunday's notable games include the Chargers at Buffalo, Kansas City at Miami, and the Rams at Denver at night, with Philadelphia at Chicago on Monday. Baltimore and Dallas play in Rio de Janeiro, and that game carries no resale listing on the major marketplaces. 9

The ticket board

Chargers at Bills, Sunday, September 27, Highmark Stadium: Vivid Seats showed a $267 floor and a listed $467 average, with highlighted rows at $368 in the upper corner and $483 in the lower level, and the schedule page flags that four percent of tickets are left. Displayed prices include fees. 10
The same game on TickPick started at $240, with no service fee added at checkout. 11
StubHub's readable page showed the cheapest upper-level corners at $318 to $320, with more than 200 seats listed. 12
Guardians at Royals, Saturday, September 26, Kauffman Stadium: Vivid Seats showed a $17 floor and a $41 average, with view boxes at $25 and a field-level plaza seat at $24. Saturday is a jersey-jacket giveaway. 13
Rockies at White Sox, Saturday, September 26, Rate Field: Vivid Seats showed a $26 floor and a $68 average, with upper boxes at $31 and a club infield seat at $116. 14 TickPick had that game from $24 15, and StubHub's readable page had upper boxes from $29 16.

The football average deserves the same warning it has earned two weeks running: it is real and misleading at once. With four percent of inventory left, what remains skews toward lower-level and club seats, so the average climbs away from anything a budget buyer would consider. Budget from the floor, and from the section you would actually accept. 10

The value call is Guardians at Royals on Saturday, at the $41 Vivid average or the $17 floor. Cleveland is leading the division and has to win; Kansas City is 68-90 and will play spoiler in a half-empty park. If you would rather watch two teams with something to play for, the White Sox host Colorado at a $26 floor.

Three boundaries matter here. These are single-market snapshots from one morning, and a Saturday price in September can move in two days. Vivid's displayed prices include fees while taxes and delivery may be separate, and TickPick's listed price carries no added service fee. Inspect the section, the row, the seat count, and whether the seats are together before checkout. 10

The fantasy line

StatMuse's seven-day window, September 17 through September 24, is led by Pete Alonso, whose four home runs are the most in baseball over that stretch — on four hits in 21 at-bats, a .190 average and eight runs batted in. 17

The better all-around week belongs to Vinnie Pasquantino: three home runs, a .500 average and 11 runs batted in across five games. Will Smith hit three with a .375 average, and C.J. Abrams hit three while stealing four bases. 17

The lean is Pasquantino, if your league counts average or runs batted in; Alonso only if you need home runs and can carry the average. The boundary is the sample: five games is a weekend, not a trend. Check the lineup card and your league settings before you move.

The week hands you one honest purchase and one honest warning. Saturday in Kansas City buys a division lead for the price of lunch; Sunday in Buffalo buys a building that took years to get, at 240 dollars to walk in. The market priced the architecture, and left the race almost free.

This episode's ticket snapshot was checked on the afternoon of September 24, 2026, shortly after noon Eastern. Listings can move after publication.