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how many seats in msg

Madison Square Garden’s main arena holds around 19,000 seats for basketball games and about 18,000 seats for hockey , with concerts typically ranging from about 18,000 up to around 20,000 people depending on stage and floor setup.

How Many Seats in MSG?

Quick Scoop

If you’re wondering “how many seats in MSG?” you’re really asking about a range , not one fixed number. That’s because Madison Square Garden reconfigures seating based on the event type.

Core numbers (main arena)

  • Around 19,000 seats for basketball.
  • Around 18,000 seats for hockey.
  • Up to roughly 20,000 for concerts when more of the bowl is opened and the stage allows it.

So if you just want a quick mental number, you can think: “MSG ≈ 18–20k seats, depending on the event.”

Different Setups, Different Seat Counts

MSG doesn’t always use every possible seat. Capacity changes because of:

  1. Event type
    • Sports (NBA/NHL) have fairly standard configurations.
    • Concerts can block sections behind or beside the stage, reducing seats, or open more areas, increasing them.
  1. Stage and production
    • Big touring productions with massive backdrops or side structures often close off rear/side sections, dropping capacity closer to the low–mid teens (like ~13k) for some shows, as fans sometimes estimate when looking at ticket maps.
 * In-the-round or center-stage shows can push capacity closer to the top of that ~20k ceiling.
  1. Floor configuration
    • For concerts, the floor might be all standing “pit” or a mix of seats and standing, which affects the exact headcount.

MSG vs. The Theater at MSG

Sometimes people mix up the main MSG arena with The Theater at Madison Square Garden , which is a smaller venue in the same complex.

  • The main arena : roughly 18,000–20,000 capacity depending on event.
  • The Theater at MSG : seats between about 2,000 and 5,600 people , used for smaller concerts, shows, and events.

If you see an event at “The Theater at MSG,” it’s not the full 19k-seat bowl, but this smaller configurable space.

Why People Online Argue About “How Many Seats”

On forums and ticket threads, you’ll see people quote slightly different capacities, like “18,500–20,000,” and argue about queue numbers vs. real seats. That happens because:

  • One fan may be talking about theoretical max concert capacity.
  • Another might be looking at a specific show where:
    • Seats behind the stage are closed.
    • Certain upper sections or obstructed areas are killed.
    • Production takes a big chunk of the bowl.

Example: One poster pointed out that their ticket queue number was over 26,000 , while the real MSG seating for that show was around 18–20k , highlighting that online queue numbers can be inflated and don’t equal actual seats.

TL;DR

  • Main MSG arena : about 18,000–20,000 seats , depending on whether it’s basketball, hockey, or a concert and how the stage is set up.
  • The Theater at MSG : roughly 2,000–5,600 seats for smaller events.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.