If you have watched even a minute of this year’s NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, you have heard all about the history as well as all about the great players and games of the past. You’ve seen the celebrities from Denzel Washington to Jack Nicholson, Spike Lee to Steven Spielberg. And if you have tried to get tickets to the Staples Center to see a game in person, you have definitely seen the huge prices they are going for.
“I’ve seen nothing like this in the nine years since we’ve opened,” Lee Zeidman, general manager for the Staples Center, told the Los Angeles Daily News. “Because of the history of these two teams … the demand is phenomenal.”
On Wednesday, June 11, the die-hard Lakers fans would have had to pay the same price for tickets as they would have for a 2008 Maserati Quattroporte sports car to hang out with Jack and the rest of the celebs, according to the Daily News. But as of today, you can sit courtside with them for the price of a 2008 Honda Civic.
The Daily News reported a week ago that for a pair of courtside seats to Game 5 were going for the staggering price of $112,000 or $56,000 each. But as of late yesterday, those courtside seats were no longer listed on any of the top three secondary ticket markets: StubHub, TicketsNow and TicketLiquidatior.
Prices for that same game have begun to drop on many of the secondary sites. On TicketNetwork.com, there are first row seats in the 100 level going for less than what would have the service fee of the $112,000 seats. You can also find courtside seats “On Wood”, or at court level, for a fraction of that price as well. (see below)
Even with prices dropping from their highest points, prices are still expensive. The talk around Laker fan forums is about how seats at the Staples Center are filled with people with money, not “real Lakers fans” who have effectively been priced out.
Many thought that if the Lakers would have been able to close out the series in Game 5, prices would have reached astronomical heights. Now as the Celtics head in Game 5 with a 3-1 series lead, prices may continue to drop. If the Lakers can force the series back to Boston for Games 6 and/or 7, prices at the TD Banknorth Garden may see an increase with fans that bleed green wanting to see the team raise banner number 17 to the rafters.
