Topline
With all four of the NBA’s Conference Finals teams locked in, ticket prices on the secondary market for the NBA Finals have soared to a league record, with average ticket prices ranging from more than $3,800 to nearly $5,200, depending on where the games are played, though analysts believe that price could come down.
Boston Celtics tickets on the secondary market for NBA Finals games average more than $3,200, the … [+]
Key Facts
The average price for an NBA Finals ticket on the secondary market, according to data from TicketiQ, costs as much as $5,198 for Lakers home games in Los Angeles if the Lakers defeat the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Championships, which start Tuesday.
The average price for Finals tickets—which have already gone on sale—is slightly lower in Denver, coming in at $4,133 for Nuggets home games if they come out on top in the Conference Championships.
In the Eastern Conference, meanwhile, home tickets average $4,678 for Finals games in Miami—if the Heat beat the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Championships—and $3,862 for games in Boston.
That tops ticket prices for last year’s Finals between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors—which averaged $3,241 on the secondary market, with tickets slightly more expensive for Warriors home games in the series ($3,526), just above the $2,860 average price for seats at the TD Garden, in Boston, according to data from TicketiQ.
The only series more expensive was 2019’s match-up between the Warriors and the Toronto Raptors, with an average list price of $3,899 on the secondary market.
Greg Cohen, TicketiQ’s vice-president of growth, however, believes prices will start to fall as more tickets become available on both the primary and secondary markets—the Celtics and Lakers have not yet made Finals tickets available, while the Heat and Nuggets both have.
Big Number
$5,959. That’s how much the average ticket for the Lakers’ third game in the Finals costs on the secondary market—the most expensive of the 15 possible home games—with a get-in price (the cheapest available seat) still going for $1,797.
Tangent
Tickets on the secondary market to February’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles climbed to an average of more than $9,000 in the week before the game, making it the second most expensive Super Bowl since TicketiQ started tracking NFL ticket prices in 2010. The cheapest ticket for that game: a $5,707 upper-level seat.
Further Reading
Joel Embiid Wins MVP, Capping $44 Million NBA Season (Forbes)
LeBron James Breaks Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA All-Time Points Record—Renewing Debate Over Greatest Of All Time (Forbes)
Average Super Bowl Tickets Approach $10,000—Third-Most Expensive Ever (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/05/15/nba-finals-tickets-set-record-up-to-5200-on-secondary-market/