It comes as no surprise that this year’s NBA Finals between the Celtics and the Lakers have garnered much more attention than any of those in previous years. With a rivalry over 50 years deep, die hard fans have made it one of the most difficult tickets to get in sports. Even though ticket prices in Los Angeles dropped over the weekend, the amount of money paid by fans to attend the games have grown overall.
Information from the TicketNetwork inventory showed that the average order size is more than $1,500. That is an increase of almost 50 percent over last year’s finals which saw the San Antonio Spurs sweep the Cleveland Cavaliers in four games.
“These are the highest ticket prices for NBA Finals that we have seen in a long time,” Director of Public Relations for RazorGator Toni Lamb told TicketNews. RazorGator has seen an average ticket price of $523 for the series.
“There has been unprecedented demand for this series due to the nostalgia and rivalry associated with this match-up.” She added.
The year 2007 saw the star power of LeBron James and Tim Duncan battle for the title, but it lacked a major market with thousands of fans who have money to burn, something this year’s series has. Information compiled on StubHub through Monday June 16, showed that the average ticket price in Los Angeles was $914 a good amount higher than in Boston where fans averaged $683. Last year pales in comparison with prices in San Antonio averaging only $311 and in Cleveland only $366.
StubHub also reported that Games 1 through 6 have been the best selling NBA games in their company’s history based on dollar volume. The only other sporting events that demanded more money per ticket was Super Bowl XLII, 2008 BCS Championship and 2007 World Series.`
