NYC Sporting Event 2/15-2/17
 

I am meeting two good friends who are flying in from Germany for a long weekend in NYC. They'd like to attend a good sporting event. It does not really matter what is it but should be fun and lively. At msg.com I was able to find a basketball game on 2/17. This is fine, however, the only tickets available are high up in terms of seating. I have zero experience how ticketing works but a game between St. John vs Villanova does not seem like all good tickets closer to the court are sold out. I may be naïve but I am expecting occupancy to be low. What's the best way to get decent tickets?

I'm afraid you do fall into that category. St John's vs Villanova is one of the biggest east coast rivalries in men's college basketball. Both teams play in the Big East Conference.
If you did a search online, you'd find vividseats.com selling courtside seats for $2655 plus a selection of other seats and prices.

In addition, it's the Sunday of the President's Day long weekend, which will bump up demand. StubHub and SeatGeek are also showing $50 for nosebleed seats.

If you're going to pay $50 for a nosebleed seat, go to a NJ Devils game. It's 20 minutes longer to get there, but unless you're a St. John's or Villanova alum, a lot more fun to watch.

How about hockey? There's a game at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn (easily reached via NYC Subway) on Saturday Feb 16. There's also one at the Prudential Center in Newark on Sunday, but that's a little harder/longer to get to via mass transit.

I am not surprised and fully admit not realizing any of it. I will check into the hockey game at the Brooklyn Center that was mentioned in this thread as well. I will check with my friends, if nosebleed seats to a big game is what they want or good seats to a regular game.

Thank you for all the responses. That cleared up the mystery!

If you do look into an Islander's game at the Barclay's Center, keep in mind that at one end of the arena, you do need to check to determine whether you'll be able to see the end of the rink (and the goal) that should be right down there in front of you, because with some seats you can't.

(The arena was designed to fit a basketball court, but it's not large enough for standard seating at a hockey game.)

See for example:
There Are Some Pretty Bad Seats for Hockey at Barclays Center

[QUOTE=nerd;30551221]If you do look into an Islander's game at the Barclay's Center, keep in mind that at one end of the arena, you do need to check to determine whether you'll be able to see the end of the rink (and the goal) that should be right down there in front of you, because with some seats you can't./QUOTE]

Have to agree Hockey at Barclay Center is terrible from some seats and check under your seat for oxygen tanks if you are in the last rows, pretty steep climb to the back. That said there can be some decent seats but I'm a Ranger fan so only been there a few times for Hockey.

A college basketball game at MSG will be a very different experience than a professional hockey game at the Prudential or Barclays arenas. But they'll probably all be fun, and interesting cultural experiences for someone from outside the US.

Note that college basketball is technically amateur (the players don't get paid in cash, although most get free tuition at the college) but is still a very big deal, particularly with schools like Villanova and St. John's that have historically strong basketball teams (Villanova won the most recent national championship). That game is likely to be attended mainly by alumni of the two schools. Since both schools are driving distance from NYC, there will likely be lots of fans for both teams. College teams also usually bring their own student pep bands and cheerleaders and a rowdy student cheering section to big basketball games.

The Islanders and Devils are both NHL teams, representing the highest level of professional ice hockey. The teams they're playing on those particular days aren't particularly close, so the vast majority of fans are likely to be supporters of the home team. The entertainment when play is stopped is likely to be a notch more commercial than at the basketball game (although there will be plenty of commercialism at both).

In the end we did book tickets to the basketball game, section 210 row 2. For my friends to come from Germany for 4 days & for all of us to meet, in the end a sports game should be seen as MSG. Now I need to look for the quintessential steak house...