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Brooklyn Nets stadium NYC

If you love basketball and want to experience a magical night, you have a date at the Barclays Center to see the Brooklyn Nets play. Here's how to get tickets to watch the NBA in New York.

Isabel Catalán

Isabel Catalán

9 min read

Brooklyn Nets stadium NYC

Image of the exterior of the Barclays Center | ©Hellotickets

The Barclays Center is a modern stadium located in the borough of Brooklyn known for being the home of the Brooklyn Nets. Are you ready to experience the magic of the NBA?

1. How to visit the Barclays Center?

The Barclays Center
The Barclays Center

Unlike Madison Square Garden, the home of the New York Knicks, there is no tour to visit inside the Brooklyn Nets arena so the best way to get to know it is to attend an NBA or NHL game, as it is also the home of the New York Islanders until their new arena is completed.

Buy Brooklyn Nets tickets

If during your trip to New York you want to experience the atmosphere and enthusiasm that this sport awakens on the East Coast, my advice is to book your Brooklyn Nets tickets as soon as possible.

The demand to go to an NBA game is extremely high and tickets are sold out months in advance. In my article on how to watch NBA games in New York, I tell you in detail how the NBA season works.
I tell you in detail how the basketball season works, the stages it is divided into and how to buy NBA tickets.

How to buy basketball tickets at the Barclays Center?

The interior of the Barclays Center
The interior of the Barclays Center

You have two options for purchasing Brooklyn Nets tickets:

Buy them online in advance

If basketball is your passion and you have included an NBA game within your trip to New York, I recommend you to buy basketball tickets online before traveling. There are several reasons, here's why:

  • To get the best seat at the Barclays Center at the cheapest price , the key is to buy tickets as soon as possible. The demand to go to an NBA game is extremely high so tickets are usually sold out in no time as soon as they go on sale.

  • The American ticket market is dynamic, which means that prices increase as the date of the game approaches and the supply decreases (as with flights, for example). If you wait too long to book them you run the risk of running out of basketball tickets or that there will be few tickets at a high price and in sectors with poorer visibility.

  • Another advantage of buying basketball tickets online is that you can choose the place you like best at the Barclays Center to watch the Brooklyn Nets.

  • In my opinion, this is the easiest, safest and fastest option. In addition, bringing the tickets purchased from home gives you peace of mind.

At the stadium ticket offices

In my experience, it does not seem to me to be the most recommendable option. Here are the reasons:

  • For starters, buying Brooklyn Nets basketball tickets once you arrive in New York means you'll have to travel to the Barclays Center, adjust to the hours of the ticket window and wait in an endless line to buy them.

  • This means that you will lose a lot of your travel time waiting in line at the doors of the stadium when you could spend it visiting the Statue of Liberty or seeing a Broadway musical, among many other plans.

  • Besides, if you get your tickets at the Barclays Center box office, you will do it months later than when you could have bought them at home, there will be fewer options left and maybe even at the price of gold. Or they will be sold out due to the high demand of the NBA.

Beware of resale

If I have to give you one last piece of advice when buying your basketball tickets, it is to be very cautious with the scalpers in the vicinity of the stadium. You are likely to end up paying a very high price for tickets with poor visibility or, in the worst case scenario, they are fake and you will not be able to access the game.

3. How to choose a good seat for a game at the Barclays Center?

Detail of the game
Detail of the game
  • When choosing basketball tickets at the Barclays Center, an important factor is the budget you have available because the price of the seats usually depends directly on how close you are to the court.

  • The cheapest tickets correspond to the farthest and highest seats as well as those in the corners and next to the wall, while the closer you get to the court, the higher the price goes up.

  • At the Barclays Center the best sector corresponds to the sides almost at the foot of the court where you can see the game and the players almost as one of the team, although they are the most expensive seats. Behind the baskets is where there are also usually quite interesting prices, if what you want is to see the NBA stars up close without spending VIP amounts.

You can see the views from each seat

Anyway, when you buy basketball tickets online to see the Brooklyn Nets, an image will appear on the screen with the exact views from each sector to have a better idea when choosing and know what to expect from each location.

4. How do I receive the NBA tickets I bought online? Will they arrive on time?

The tickets will be electronic and you will receive them in your email so you can access them whenever you need them. You just have to know that in the United States, for security reasons, tickets are usually issued a few days before the game, so it may take a while to receive them but don't worry, this is normal and they always arrive on time.

Do I have to print them?

My advice is to read the instructions you receive in your email carefully because it is usually not necessary to print them. However, in the event that your entries are in PDF format and you need to print them but you are already away from home, the solution is simple.

If you need it at your hotel they will help you print them or you can search on Google Maps for a Staples (a stationery store) or Copy Center to print them near your accommodation or the stadium.

And if I don't have Internet, how do I access the tickets?

If you don't have a stable connection or data on your phone during your trip to New York, don't be alarmed. You can always download them at your hotel or any public establishment with WiFi for customers (such as a coffee shop or restaurant) to have them ready to go when it's time to enter the stadium.

5. When do I go to the stadium on game days?

The Barclays Center on game day
The Barclays Center on game day

The days when the Brooklyn Nets play at the Barclays Center are experienced in a special way in the city. You can feel it in the atmosphere and there is more excitement and hustle and bustle than usual on the streets of New York.

On game day I recommend that you go to the stadium at least an hour in advance to arrive calmly, go through the security arch, find your seats and enjoy the show before the start of the game listening to the American anthem, watching the cheerleaders show as well as jumping the players on the court. The public welcomes them as if they were heroes!

How do I get to the Barclays Center?

If you have purchased basketball tickets to see the Brooklyn Nets play at home, my advice is to take advantage of the day to take a tour of Brooklyn, which with an industrial past and a strong cultural identity is well worth a visit.

You can get there on foot by crossing the magnificent Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan and walk around before the game starts. In my article 10 things to do and see in Brooklyn I give you some ideas for sightseeing here and having a great time.

In case you have another activity scheduled for that day and you want to go directly to the Barclays Center to watch the game you can take public transportation but it is important that you take into account the traffic or rush hours so you don't arrive late to the Barclays Center.

  • Where to get there? 620 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn

  • How to get there. The closest subways are Fulton Street (G), Lafayette Avenue (C) and Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center (2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, N, Q, R).

6. Where to eat before or after the game?

Inside the Barclays Center there are several food and drink stands to buy some snacks while watching the game but the prices are much more expensive than outside. For example, a hot dog can cost around $7, a soft drink around $6.5 and a bottle of water around $5.

Since you are not allowed to bring your own drink or food into the stadium, I recommend going to one of the restaurants around the Barclays Center to eat if you work up an appetite such as Shake Sack, McDonald's or Patsy's Pizzeria either before or after the game to celebrate the Nets victory.

7. Interesting information to watch the NBA

NBA Merchandising
NBA Merchandising

How long does an NBA game last?

Officially it lasts 48 minutes (4 quarters of 12 minutes each) but between the breaks and the half time, most of the matches usually last 2 hours or more. After the first two quarters there is a 15 minute half time break where you can buy something to eat or go to the restrooms.

Can you bring cameras or backpacks into the stadium?

According to the Barclays Center access policy, backpacks or bags larger than 14 "x14 "x6" or with hard sides will not be allowed in the Barclays Center. Neither will professional camera equipment, audio and/or video recording devices or selfie sticks and tripods.

Do children pay admission to the NBA?

The NBA is a very family friendly show but to the question of whether children pay admission, the reality is that it depends on each team.

The Barclays Center's policy on children's access to the arena states that for all sporting events, children up to 34" inches tall (86.36 centimeters) can enter for free although they must share a seat with a ticketed adult. Any child who does not meet this height requirement will need their own ticket to gain access to the stadium.

In case you are going to the stadium with children under the age of two, bring proof of age if requested at the entrance. Valid forms of identification are a passport or birth certificate.

Why go to the Barclays Center?

You go to New York to have a great time and even if you're not much of a sports fan, seeing an NBA game in person is one of the most exciting things to do in the United States and a unique opportunity to get up close and personal with some of the best players in the world - a true spectacle of music, dance and above all basketball!

If during your trip to New York you want to go to an NBA game, you can't miss the Brooklyn Nets here. The season starts at the end of October and ends in mid-April.

What is the Barclays Center like?

When the Nets decided to move from New Jersey to New York they chose the borough of Brooklyn for their new home and built the new arena on Atlantic Avenue, right next to a transportation hub.

The Barclays Center is a huge pavilion in the heart of this borough just around the corner from the BAM. With a capacity of over 17,000 spectators , it is famous for being the "home" where the Brooklyn Nets (NBA) and the New York Islanders (NHL) have played since 2012.

In addition, this stadium has also hosted boxing championships and musical events (in fact several of the best artists on the planet such as Jay-Z, Ariana Grande, Marc Anthony and Celine Dion have performed here).

9. What other sporting events are there in New York?

Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden

If you are passionate about sports and want to attend another event during your vacation in New York I recommend other options such as:

The NBA

In New York you can also watch the New York Knicks play at Madison Square Garden.

NHL

You can watch the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders play in the Big Apple. The ice hockey season runs from October to April.

MLB

In New York you can watch the New York Yankees and the New York Mets play. Baseball season runs from April to early November with the World Series and in this post I explain in detail how to buy tickets to see MLB games in New York.

The NFL

In New York you will be able to see the New York Giants and the New York Jets. The season runs from early September to early February with the Super Bowl. If you like the king of American sports, in this article I tell you how to watch a soccer game in New York.