How to sell NBA season tickets · 2026-27 season · For season ticket members
In the NBA, the ticket is priced by who is on the floor. Three or four of your 41 home dates carry the season. Twenty of them sit below what you paid. Selling well means knowing which is which in August.
Where an NBA listing actually goes, the league rule that decides whether the star you’re selling will play, what a 41-game season nets under three plans, the terms that got memberships revoked this year, and the 2026-27 dates read as a seller. Every fact is sourced; the list is at the bottom.
The one NBA rule every seller should know
Basketball demand is star-driven in a way no other league’s is: fans buy the visitor, not the matchup. That made the second night of a back-to-back a seller’s nightmare for years, because the star you were selling might sit. In September 2023 the league’s Board of Governors adopted the Player Participation Policy, in force since the 2023-24 season. Teams must “ensure that star players are available for all national television and NBA In-Season Tournament games” and must “manage [the] roster to ensure that no more than one star player is unavailable for the same game.” A star is “any player who, in any of the prior three seasons, was selected to an All-NBA Team or an NBA All-Star team.”
For a seller this is the map of the season. The national-TV dates and the NBA Cup games (group play Oct 30 to Nov 29 this season) are the ones where the visitor’s stars are supposed to play, so those dates hold their price into the final days. A non-televised Tuesday against the same team, the night after they played in another city, carries a real chance the star rests, and the market prices that in. Sell the protected dates with confidence; price the unprotected ones to move early.
Where your listing goes, by team
Account Manager to NBATickets.com
Open the game in your team’s Account Manager or app, choose Sell, set a price. NBATickets.com, “authorized as the Official Resale Marketplace of the NBA,” tells season ticket holders to post “using your team’s account manager tool.” Delivery to the buyer is automatic when it sells; Ticketmaster pays “typically within 7 business days after the event.”
Sell inside the SeatGeek app
The Cavaliers renewed SeatGeek as official ticketing partner in October 2026, and a few other clubs ticket with it. Your tickets live in the SeatGeek app, the Sell button lists them there, and SeatGeek’s terms govern the fee (10% on its published guide) and payout.
Check the floor before you list
Ticketmaster’s help center says an organizer can set “face value as the minimum resale price for that event.” Where your team does, the soft weeknights that only clear below face can’t be sold on the official exchange at all. That is the single biggest reason members end up eating January games.
Open marketplaces, or consignment
StubHub, Vivid Seats and TickPick take the listing at any price and you transfer from your account when it sells; sellers typically keep 90% (85% on TickPick). Or transfer the games to us once and we handle the rest. Every route’s fee and payout, side by side →
What a 41-game season actually nets
Take a lower-bowl pair at $140 a seat per game, $280 a game, $11,480 for the regular season, and say you’ll attend 21 games and sell 20. The shape below is what we see in NBA buildings every year: a few dates far above the per-game price, most below it.
| The 20 games you sell | Flat at face, listed late | Priced per game, listed early |
|---|---|---|
| 3 marquee dates (visitor stars, Christmas or opener) | Sell instantly at $280: $840 | About 2x: $1,680 |
| 5 weekend dates against average teams | 3 of 5 sell at $280: $840 | About 1.1x, all sell: $1,540 |
| 12 weeknights, mixed | 4 of 12 sell at $280: $1,120; 8 expire unsold | About 0.6x average, all sell: $2,016 |
| Gross on 20 games (before any fee) | $2,800, with 10 empty seats | $5,236, nothing empty |
Illustrative: multiples are the shape of the market, not a promise, and your building, section and team record move every number. The gap comes from two habits, not from any platform: pricing every game the same, and listing late. At our 20% the managed column nets about $4,190; at a 10% marketplace fee it nets about $4,710 if you do all the work yourself and never double-sell.
Every NBA team’s resale rule, from its own terms
We read the season ticket terms each team publishes and pulled out the one thing a seller needs: what the team counts as too much, and what it does about it. Teams in bold put a hard line in writing. Checked November 2026; we re-read every page each summer at renewal, and a team’s current terms beat this table.
| Team | Channel named | Limit or trigger | If you cross it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia 76ers | not named | A hard count: “Tickets with respect to ten (10) or more games” (full plan), five or more (half), three or more (partial) sold “without the 76ers’ express written consent” | Revocation “with cause” of the membership, tickets and privileges | 2024-25 terms (PDF) |
| Chicago Bulls | NBATickets.com “or as otherwise authorized” | “On an occasional basis”; a purchase “for the primary purpose and intent of reselling” is the test | “Cancellation of unused tickets”; cancel, revoke or decline to renew the account | 2026-27 terms |
| Golden State Warriors | NBAtickets.com only: online resale “is limited to NBAtickets.com” | None stated | “Cancelation of season tickets without refund or other compensation” | 2026-27 terms |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | SeatGeek only: “I may only resell the Tickets through the SeatGeek secondary ticket online marketplace” | No commercial use, including “selling a substantial number of Tickets” | Revocation, and “you shall forfeit all rights to purchase playoff tickets” | Cavs United agreement (2022) |
| Detroit Pistons | A platform “expressly authorized by the Pistons or the NBA” | A price rule, not a count: “against Pistons and PSE policy to sell Tickets for more than the face ticket price”; broker-like activity | “Immediate seizure and termination of all Tickets and Membership Privileges without refund” | Current terms |
| Atlanta Hawks | not stated | No resale “above face value” without written permission; members confirm they are not brokers | Event of Default; tickets or membership cancelled | 2024-25 terms |
| Phoenix Suns | A platform “designated by the Phoenix Suns” | None stated; tickets from unauthorized sources “may not be honored” | Revoke or terminate; revoke “playoff ticket purchase rights”; decline to renew | Current terms |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | A platform “expressly authorized by the Team or the NBA” | None stated | Breach “shall automatically terminate” the holder’s rights | Ticket terms |
| Los Angeles Lakers | Lakers Account Manager, “the official channel for listing and selling tickets”; no seller fee | Not stated on the public page | Not stated | Account Manager FAQ |
| Los Angeles Clippers | Account Manager powered by Ticketmaster | Not stated on the public page | Not stated | Member Center |
| Houston Rockets | AXS Mobile Tickets | Not stated on the public page | Not stated | Members page |
| Portland Trail Blazers | not stated | Exchanges capped by plan (1 game quarter, 2 half, unlimited full); purchases “for the sole purpose of resale” may be cancelled | Cancel or prohibit the purchase | Memberships page |
Not yet read: the Celtics, Nets, Knicks, Raptors, Heat, Magic, Wizards, Pacers, Bucks, Nuggets, Jazz, Thunder, Pelicans, Spurs, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Hornets and Kings do not publish member terms on a page we could open in November 2026 (several publish only venue or general ticket terms). If you hold one of those accounts, your renewal invoice or the Account Manager terms link carries the rule; send it with your inquiry and we read it with you.
What the whole league says, in four lines
No NBA team we read puts a percentage on resale. The triggers are words: “occasional” and “primary purpose” (Bulls), “substantial number” (Cavaliers), “sole purpose of resale” (Blazers). The one hard count in the league is Philadelphia’s: ten games of a full plan sold without consent, a quarter of the season.
The strictest rule is about price, not volume. Detroit and Atlanta forbid selling above face at all, in writing. Elsewhere the price is yours to set.
The channel is the trap. Golden State and Cleveland name one marketplace and make everything else a breach; the Spurs revoked memberships in June 2026 over listings “identified in connection to resale activity” on unofficial sites. Consignment through us uses your team’s own transfer, from your account, so the ticket never appears on a site your terms forbid.
The penalty that bites is the playoffs. Cleveland and Phoenix write playoff purchase rights into the consequence; most teams make postseason access conditional on good standing. Protect the account, not the game.
The 2026-27 calendar, read as a seller
| Date | What happens | What it means for your tickets |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-August | Schedule release | Mark your misses that week. Find the national-TV dates and the NBA Cup home games: those are the ones the participation policy protects. |
| Oct 20 | Opening night; season opens | Home openers sell on novelty. If you won’t go, list it first. |
| Oct 30 to Nov 29; Dec 4 to 11 | NBA Cup group play; knockout rounds; final in Indianapolis | Group games are regular-season home dates in your package with stars required to play. The final is neutral-site, never a home date. |
| Dec 25 | Christmas Day, five games | If your team hosts, it is a top-three date of the season. Decide early: sell or keep, don’t drift. |
| January to Feb 11 | The grind, then the trade deadline | Weeknights against lottery teams are the softest dates of the year and the ones a price floor can trap. Price to sell early; if the exchange won’t take the price, use another route. |
| Feb 19 to 21 | All-Star break, Phoenix | No home games. Re-price the rest of the season now that you know whether your team is chasing a seed. |
| Through Apr 11; Apr 13; Apr 17 | Season ends; Play-In; playoffs begin | Seeding dates rise for contenders and fade for everyone else. Playoff seats are a separate purchase through member priority. Selling NBA playoff tickets → |
Six decisions, once a season
- Schedule week: mark the misses and star the protected dates. National TV and NBA Cup home games carry the stars by rule. Those are your premium inventory.
- Check whether your team sets a resale floor. If it does, decide now which route your soft weeknights will take, because the official exchange won’t accept a price below it.
- List the marquee dates in September. Traveling fans and groups buy weeks out. Be in front of them before the cheaper listings in your section.
- Price the weeknights to sell, with planned steps. A January Tuesday against a lottery team clears below your per-game price almost every time. A sale beats an empty seat.
- Re-price at the All-Star break. Contender or not decides whether March rises or fades.
- Take a sold listing down everywhere, immediately. A double sale is a cancelled order, a marketplace penalty and exactly the attention the terms warn about.
Or send us the misses once. We check your team’s terms and any floor, price each game to the live market, list it on every major resale marketplace and with our private buyers the same day, re-price through the season, handle the buyer side, and pay you every Friday. A new member’s first regular-season sale is commission-free; after that it is 20% of completed sales, nothing upfront, and no cancellation fee if you keep a game before it sells.
Frequently asked questions
Can I resell my NBA season tickets?
Yes, game by game, from your team’s account manager or app. The league’s official resale marketplace is NBATickets.com, and your team’s terms set the limits: occasional resale of games you can’t attend is normal; reselling most of a season, or playoff seats outside the named channel, can cost you the membership.
How many NBA games can I resell before my team objects?
No NBA team we read sets a percentage. The 76ers set the only hard count, ten or more games of a full plan sold without written consent; the Bulls allow resale “on an occasional basis” and act when a purchase is “for the primary purpose” of reselling; the Cavaliers act on “a substantial number.” Selling the games you cannot attend, from your own account, through your team’s channel, is inside every set of terms we read. The team-by-team table above has each rule and its source.
Can you make money reselling NBA season tickets?
On three or four dates a year, yes: marquee visitors, Christmas if you host, the opener, a Saturday rival. On most weeknights, no. Members who come out ahead sell the big dates early at a premium and price the weeknights to clear, and judge the season as a whole.
Why can’t I list a game below face value on my team’s exchange?
Because the organizer set face value as the minimum resale price for that event, which Ticketmaster’s help center confirms organizers may do. Soft dates that only clear below face need another route: an open marketplace, or a consignment seller.
Will the stars play the night I’m selling?
On national-TV and NBA Cup games the league’s Player Participation Policy requires it, and no team may rest two stars the same night. On an untelevised weeknight, especially the second night of a back-to-back, a rest day is possible and buyers price that in. Sell the protected dates late if you like; sell the unprotected ones early.
How many home games are in an NBA season ticket?
Forty-one regular-season home games, and full plans usually include the preseason home games too: NBATickets.com describes a full season as 44 home games, and the Heat’s full plan is three preseason plus 41. Half plans are about 20 games and quarter plans about 10.
What does it cost to have you sell them?
20% of each completed sale, nothing upfront and nothing if a game doesn’t sell. A new season ticket member’s first regular-season sale is commission-free, and you are paid every Friday.
Sources: NBA: Board of Governors approves Player Participation Policy (Sep 13, 2023) · NBATickets.com FAQ · NBATickets.com season tickets · Miami Heat memberships · Chicago Bulls 2026-27 season ticket terms · San Antonio Current (Jun 1, 2026) · Ticketmaster: minimum resale price · Ticketmaster: seller payouts · SeatGeek: Cavaliers renewal (Oct 29, 2026) · SeatGeek: seller fee · NBC 7: NBA key dates 2026-27 · StubHub newsroom (Oct 20, 2026) · TickPick: seller fee
More for season ticket holders: How to sell season tickets (all leagues) · Sell NBA playoff tickets · The dates that carry your season · Can you resell season tickets? · Your team’s page
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