The good news for NBA fans looking to attend the NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat? Prices are as low as they’ve been for the league’s marquee event since 2018. The bad news? They’re still above $1,100 on average, the fourth-highest price per ticket in history, according to Ticket Club, which has tracked prices back to the 2012 finals.
The #NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV comes to Denver for the first time!
Jimmy. Bam. Joker. Jamal.
The biggest stage in basketball.WHO WILL WIN GAME 1 at 8:30 PM ET on ABC? pic.twitter.com/SU4OiZhYax
— NBA (@NBA) June 1, 2023
According to the membership-based ticket resale marketplace, NBA Finals tickets for the Heat-Nuggets series that tips off tonight at Ball Arena in Denver are averaging $1,113. That’s $545 less than last year’s record-shattering Warriors-Celtics finals, which averaged a ticket price of $1,658 over its six games. The year-over-year difference is more than the average ticket price total for the 2012, 2013, and 2014 NBA finals, which ranged from $495-544.
NBA Finals Average Ticket Price – 2012-2023
YEAR TEAMS GAMES PLAYED Series Avg. Price 2012 Thunder vs. Heat 5 $495 2013 Heat vs. Spurs 7 $544 2014 Heat vs. Spurs 5 $514 2015 Warriors vs. Cavs 6 $872 2016 Warriors vs. Cavs 7 $1,071 2017 Warriors vs. Cavs 5 $952 2017 Warriors vs. Cavs 4 $755 2019 Warriors vs. Raptors 6 $1,424 2020 Lakers vs. Heat 6 N/A 2021 Suns vs. Bucks 6 $1,290 2022 Warriors vs. Celtics 6 $1,658 2023 Heat vs. Nuggets TBD $1,113 Data courtesy of TicketClub.com
The reason for the surging ticket prices for NBA Finals games? According to the resale marketplace, the continued increase of prices on the primary market has created a rising tide on the secondary market as well.
“We’ve seen this consistently with nearly all kinds of events, particularly since the return of events after the COVID-related shutdown,” says Ticket Club spokesperson Sean Burns. “As sports teams and concert promoters have increasingly pushed prices higher at the box office, resale prices inevitably rise – which is why it’s so important for consumers to comparison shop and find the best deals for tickets to the big game.”
Indeed, the average prices paid have risen in a dramatic and largely linear fashion over the last decade. The first time NBA finals ticket prices averaged over $1,000 per seat was in 2016 when the Golden State Warriors played the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second of four straight finals’ between the two squads. After dropping slightly for the next two series’ between the pair, prices once again surged above $1,000 in 2019, and have stayed there ever since – not counting a 2020 finals in the COVID bubble where no fans could attend.
In terms of the price ranges in play for the current series, fans currently are seeing prices starting at around $600/seat on Ticket Club, with a median price at $1,170 for game one and largely rising throughout the seven games, should all be necessary. Tickets to a hypothetical Game 7 at Ball Arena in Denver start at $1,132 and have a median asking price of $2,698 on Ticket Club – higher on traditional fee-based marketplaces like Vivid Seats and StubHub.
NBA Finals Ticket Prices on Ticket Club
Game/Date Get-In Price Median Price High Price June 1 – Game 1 at Denver $655 $1,170 $8,036 June 4 – Game 2 at Denver $672 $1,245 $10,412 June 7 – Game 3 at Miami $645 $1,124 $10,451 June 9 – Game 4 at Miami $688 $1,125 $13,704 June 12 – Game 5 at Denver * $983 $1,817 $14,247 June 15 – Game 6 at Miami * $751 $1,645 $13,361 June 18 – Game 7 at Denver * $1,132 $2,698 $18,631 Analysts believe that the prices- though high – could have been far higher if the conference finals went in the other direction, which would have brought a final of historical rivals in the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers – who have met in the finals 12 times, most recently in 2010.
That said, the ticket prices can still certainly rise, depending on how the series plays out. Last year’s record-breaking Celtics-Warriors series saw ticket prices average just over $1,200 for Game 1, with the prices increasing as the series went on. Thursday’s Game 1 in Denver has seen an average price paid of $1,109.
Denver, which has not played in front of its home crowd since May 18 when it went up 2-0 on the Lakers en route to a series sweep in the Western Conference finals, is playing for the NBA crown for the first time in franchise history. Miami is in the finals after having rallied from the league’s play-in tournament to defeats of the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks and No. 2 seed Boston Celtics. They have three NBA titles in their history, with the last coming in 2013. They last made the finals in the COVID bubble 2020 playoffs, falling to the Lakers.
ESPN analysts are strongly in favor of the Nuggets, with 12 of 16 saying that Denver will be cutting the nets when all is said and done, with Nikola Jokic expected to lead as MVP. But predictions and reality are often at odds with one another – and Jimmy Butler and the Heat have proven a lot of betters wrong along the way this spring.
Ticket Links
NBA Finals tickets at MEGASeats | 15% off use code TICKETNEWS
NBA Finals tickets at ScoreBig
NBA Finals tickets at SeatGeek
NBA Finals tickets at StubHub
NBA Finals tickets at Ticket Club | Free membership use code TICKETNEWS
NBA Finals tickets at Vivid SeatsNBA Finals Schedule
Game 1: Thursday at Denver, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 2: Sunday at Denver, 8 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 3: Wednesday, June 7 at Miami, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 4: Friday, June 9 at Miami, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 5*: Monday, June 12 at Denver, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 6*: Thursday, June 15 at Miami, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 7*: Sunday, June 18 at Denver, 8 p.m. ET (ABC)
*If necessary
