With just hours before the tip-off of the First Four games in Dayton marking the launch of March Madness (aka the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament), tickets are red, and almost exclusively available through resale marketplaces, though some “primary” tickets may become available later tonight. Tickets to games in the Birmingham, Alabama first and second rounds are red hot, due in large part to the teams routed to that location – South Region No. 1 seed Alabama and Midwest Region No. 9 seed Auburn.
According to membership-based ticket resale marketplace Ticket Club, an “all-sessions” pass to Birmingham is going for a low price of $441 for members, who can grab tickets without service fees. That’s $100 more per ticket than the next-closest first round ticket, in the Albany, NY location.
“Ticket prices for the NCAA tournament are so dependent on what teams wind up in each location,” says Sean Burns, a Ticket Club spokesperson. “With two local teams and massive SEC interest, it’s no wonder that Birmingham is the hot ticket this week. And UConn being sent to Albany to take on an Iona team that is also relatively local is powering that demand.”
THE BRACKET 🙌#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/HZYnwD3s3x
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 12, 2023
Tickets to the Denver and Sacramento first and second round games are also going for an asking price no less than $300, with only one set of games – the Greensboro, North Carolina sub-regional – available at an all-sessions pass price of less than $200 on Ticket Club. Denver has Creighton (from relatively nearby Nebraska) as well as in-state fans from Grand Canyon to help that demand along, while Sacramento welcomes UCLA fans from southern California.
| ALL SESSION PASS PRICES (data as of Monday 3/13 on for members on Ticketclub.com) |
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| Location | Get-In | Median | Max |
| Dayton, OH (First Four) | $112 | $126 | $185 |
| Birmingham, AL | $441 | $778 | $968 |
| Des Moines, IA | $258 | $332 | $739 |
| Orlando, FL | $263 | $391 | $838 |
| Sacramento, CA | $315 | $477 | $2,765 |
| Albany, NY | $341 | $436 | $645 |
| Columbus, OH | $219 | $403 | $787 |
| Denver, CO | $334 | $548 | $838 |
| Greensboro, NC | $184 | $352 | $649 |
Tickets for the various sessions at each region reflect the all-sessions pass prices, at least for the contests where the marquee teams are participating. And the third session pass prices will likely either rise or fall dramatically after the first round of games are completed on Thursday and Friday and fan bases decide whether or not they want to stick around (or travel to) the games on Saturday and Sunday to see their teams battle for a shot at the Sweet 16.
| Single Session Pass Prices (prices as of Monday afternoon 3/13 for members of TicketClub.com) |
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| Location | Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3 | ||||||
| Get-In | Median | Max | Get-In | Median | Max | Get-In | Median | Max | |
| Dayton, OH (First Four) | $28 | $126 | $863 | $26 | $81 | $1,354 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Birmingham, AL | $112 | $201 | $4,172 | $169 | $265 | $2,747 | $238 | $390 | $9,800 |
| Des Moines, IA | $59 | $105 | $489 | $44 | $81 | $615 | $112 | $209 | $949 |
| Orlando, FL | $28 | $109 | $1,656 | $50 | $141 | $3,753 | $105 | $200 | $3,219 |
| Sacramento, CA | $42 | $98 | $1,176 | $62 | $131 | $1,718 | $122 | $290 | $2,337 |
| Albany, NY | $120 | $243 | $1,731 | $105 | $180 | $2,308 | $148 | $247 | $4,558 |
| Columbus, OH | $52 | $145 | $2,133 | $67 | $146 | $1,733 | $92 | $184 | $2,324 |
| Denver, CO | $85 | $211 | $4,619 | $90 | $196 | $2,901 | $103 | $254 | $5,105 |
| Greensboro, NC | $21 | $104 | $2,473 | $42 | $127 | $1,987 | $50 | $156 | $2,306 |
Due to the way that tickets are sold for NCAA tournament contests, the majority of tickets have already been sold by the box office – leaving only resale tickets listed on the primary market websites (since they also serve as secondary market sellers in almost every instance. There may be some additional tickets released for each location as of Tuesday evening, which is the deadline for schools to either sell out or return tickets from their allocation. Some smaller schools with long-distance travel may leave some on the table for other fans to scoop up.
Browse for tickets on various marketplaces to see if there’s a deal that is worth traveling to the location near you with the links below:
March Madness Ticket Links
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tickets at MEGASeats | 10% off use code TICKETNEWS
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tickets at ScoreBig
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tickets at SeatGeek
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tickets at StubHub
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tickets at Ticket Club | Free membership use code TICKETNEWS
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tickets at Vivid Seats
2023 NCAA Basketball Tournament Schedule
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament schedule 2023 is as follows:
First Four: March 14-15
First round: March 16-17
Second round: March 18-19
Sweet 16: March 23-24
Elite Eight: March 25-26
Final Four: April 1
NCAA championship game: April 3
2023 NCAA Tournament Locations
First Four: Dayton, OH
First/Second Rounds: Birmingham, AL (Legacy Arena); Des Moines, IA (Wells Fargo Arena); Orlando, FL (Amway Center); Sacramento, CA (Golden 1 Center); Albany, NY (MVP Arena); Columbus, OH (Nationwide Arena); Denver, CO (Ball Arena); Greensboro, NC (Greensboro Coliseum)
Regional Semifinals/Finals: West – Las Vegas, NV (T-Mobile Arena); East – New York, NY (Madison Square Garden); Midwest – Kansas City, MO (T-Mobile Center); South – Louisville, KY (KFC Yum! Center)
Final Four: Houston, TX (NRG Stadium)
