The NBA Finals are proving to be a financial boon for New York’s hospitality workers. Knicks fans, buzzing with enthusiasm over their team’s impressive playoff journey, are turning their excitement into generous gratuities, providing bar and restaurant staff with some of the most rewarding tips they’ve ever received during game nights.
A survey highlights that these fans are not only spending more on food and drinks but are also tipping extravagantly, particularly rewarding the bartenders who keep the drinks flowing during the electrifying watch parties.
“Game nights have been incredible for tips! The Knicks have united us, and fans are eager to celebrate with drinks and watch the team succeed,” shared Katherine Turk, a seasoned bartender at One Station Plaza in Bayside. Her experience during Game 2 was especially remarkable, with one enthusiastic patron leaving her a $150 tip on a $300 tab.
The owner, John Ryan, 63, echoed this sentiment, expressing amazement at the turnout and spending habits of patrons. “The crowds coming in to watch these playoff games are unbelievable! The spending is through the roof — we’ve waited over 50 years for this moment, and it’s benefiting everyone,” he commented.
Game 2 was the most lucrative, with one barfly leaving Turk a $150 tip on a $300 check.
“The number of people who are coming to watch these playoff games is just crazy! And how much they’re spending — I’m not going to lie, we waited over 50 years for this and this is great for everybody,” said John Ryan, 63, the owner of the bar.
“Everybody is getting a shot in the arm. Every business is getting a shot in the arm!”
The generosity began surging on May 19, the day the Knicks crushed the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, according to a survey by digital payment system sunday.
Fans have been tipping an average of 4% higher on nights that the Knicks storm the courts compared to normal nights out.
A large swath of the biggest spenders are tipping as much as 33% of their bills, sunday found.
Overall spending on game nights is also on the rise, with some restaurants reporting nearly $1,000 profit surges — meaning those tips are even bigger than normal.
“It’s really just linked to the excitement. They want to watch and drink more,” said Katherine Ritter, a bartender at Tipsey Tequila in Bayside.
Knicks fans have always been generous, but the team’s chance at an NBA championship has unleashed spending like no other, Ritter, 26, said.
“This is just next level like I’ve never seen before — biggest tips I ever saw game two, definitely. No question.”
Although the spending tends to slow down on nights when the Knicks lose, the fans are still handing out cash like it’s candy, said fellow Tipsy Tequila bartender, Julia McElhoney.
The Little Neck resident was handed a $240 tip on an $800 check — a 42% tip — on Monday after the disappointing game.
On a normal night, she expects a 20% tip.
Half of the tips are thanks to the massive crowds the games have been bringing in, which Bourbon Street manager Dan Geoghan said are the biggest in the restaurant’s three decades on Bell Boulevard.
The crowds come in two hours before tip-off and stay late to celebrate, leaving plenty of time to eat, drink and be merry with their fellow fans.
“Everyone seems to be coming out for every game and the Knicks seem to be the one team that every New Yorker gets behind,” said Geoghan.
Earlier this month, Mayor Mamdani revealed that the Knicks are expected to generate an incredible $465 million for the Big Apple during the postseason.
