The San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans head to Europe for two regular-season games this January. Tickets won’t reach fans the way an American arena sells them. Nobody joins a queue at 10 a.m. You register for a free ballot — a lottery, in plain terms — and registration ends September 6, 2026. Tip-off comes four months after that. So you’ll be pricing January flights well before anyone tells you whether you’re in.
That’s the planning problem in one sentence. Here’s what deserves a commitment in September, and what should sit still until the middle of the month.
When does the NBA Europe ticket ballot close?
September 6, 2026, and entering costs nothing. What the ballot hands out is a chance to buy, not a seat. Every applicant gets a result by email and text before the sale opens, and anyone who draws in receives a private link with instructions. Entering early costs the same as entering on the last day, so there’s no reason to sit on it. Skip the date and you aren’t locked out, but your remaining routes get thinner.
The league’s official ticket page for the Manchester game doesn’t dress up the terms. It states that registration is free and closes on September 6, then adds that heavy demand means a winning entry still can’t promise tickets will be there to buy. That second clause is worth a second read. It’s the reason a trip built on nonrefundable deposits is a bad idea this early.
Paris and Manchester don’t sell on the same day
The two fixtures share one deadline and little else. Paris opens its sale first. Manchester waits another two days. Chasing both means two separate sale mornings inside one week, each running on a European clock. Set an alarm for each one, and check what time it converts to at home.
| Game | Venue | Ballot closes | Tickets on sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paris, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2027. | Accor Arena. | Sept. 6, 2026. | Sept. 15, 2026. |
| Manchester, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2027. | Co-op Live. | Sept. 6, 2026. | Sept. 17, 2026. |
The NBA confirmed both fixtures: Accor Arena in Paris on Thursday, Jan. 14, and Co-op Live in Manchester on Sunday, Jan. 17. Those two dates are fixed and won’t move. Everything you build around them is still open.
Can you see both games on one trip?
Yes, and the calendar makes it easy. Thursday in Paris, Sunday in Manchester, with three days sitting in between. That’s room for the train, a couple of nights in each city, and no rushing. One transatlantic flight serves both. Leaving on a Tuesday and flying home Monday covers the pair inside a single working week. For plenty of fans, two games are what finally makes the airfare defensible.
A domestic trip runs in the opposite order. Booking NBA travel packages for a home arena starts from a settled date and a settled building, with the flight search last. Here the venue is locked and your entry isn’t. Sequence the trip that way and it stays calm.
The leg between cities trips up more people than anything else. No high-speed train runs straight from Paris to Manchester, so you’re routing through London by rail or taking a short flight. Either one works. Neither should wait until game week, because the Friday and Saturday in between are exactly when every other two-game fan is moving too.
The border work starts earlier than you think
Two countries mean two piles of fine print. Passports need real validity left on them, not just a date in the future, and renewal queues stretch out in the fall. Check the expiry date on every passport in the group, not only your own. Anyone who has managed crossing a border for a regular-season game knows the routine. Handle the documents in September while the ballot keeps you waiting anyway. Nothing about that task can backfire.
What should you book before the ballot results arrive?
Commit to nothing you can’t undo. Reserve refundable flights and cancellable rooms, watch January fares, and keep the seat question apart from the travel question. Mid-January is a soft stretch for transatlantic pricing. It falls after the holiday rush and ahead of spring break. A good fare can usually be held and released later without much damage.
Cancellable rates run a little above the locked ones. That gap buys you the right to be wrong. Price both versions before you decide. The same math shows up when weighing coverage on a trip whose outcome isn’t settled. It bites harder here, because the doubt sits at the front of the trip rather than the end.
One last habit: leave room after the Manchester game before your flight home. A Sunday-night departure right after a big arena empties is a poor bet. Take the morning instead.
Winning the ballot isn’t the same as holding tickets
A successful entry grants you access to a sale, and the league admits inventory can still run dry. So read a ballot win as permission to try, not as a confirmed seat. That isn’t gloom. Heavily oversubscribed events have worked this way for years, and it’s why we won’t quote availability or a price on either game until the tickets are in hand. Plan the money around that, and a bad draw costs you nothing but time.
Neither fixture exists as a shelf product today, and pretending otherwise is the fastest way to lose your September. What does exist is the option to build the trip to order around the January dates — flights, hotels, the leg between cities, and the ticket question handled once it settles. That’s the shape this trip needs.
Frequently Asked Questions About an NBA Europe Trip
Do I need to enter separate ballots for Paris and Manchester?
Yes. The two games run separate registrations and separate sale dates, so an entry for one does nothing for the other. Anyone chasing both should submit both forms ahead of the September 6 cutoff.
What happens if I don’t win the ballot?
The general sale is still open to you: Sept. 15 for Paris, Sept. 17 for Manchester. Stock is thinner by then and moves fast. Keeping travel flexible until that point preserves the option without leaving you stuck.
How far ahead should I book January flights to Europe?
Fans tracking mid-January routes usually start pricing in September and commit once the seat picture clears. Fares that far out tend to be reasonable, and a refundable ticket lets you take a good one without wagering the trip on it.
Is it cheaper to attend just one of the two games?
Slightly, and rarely by enough to change the decision. The ocean crossing dominates the budget either way. A second city mostly adds rail fare and a few more nights of lodging, which is why so many fans end up doing both.
Do the two games count as regular-season games?
Yes. Both land in the standings for the Spurs and the Pelicans, which is a big part of the draw. Neither one is an exhibition, and the rosters that travel are the real ones.
Ready to hold January open while the ballot runs?
The deadline is the simple half. Enter both ballots ahead of September 6, then work out how much of the trip you’re willing to hold while the results land. The wait between entering and knowing runs a little over a week. That second half is the judgment call, and it goes easier with someone tracking the moving pieces.
We assemble these trips one at a time, in whatever sport and city the calendar puts in front of us, and we don’t promise tickets, rates, or availability we haven’t confirmed. If Paris and Manchester in January belong on your list, plan a custom trip around the January games and we’ll build it so a ballot result doesn’t sink it.