Prices For 2014 Final Four Tickets Dropping With Semis Just Two Days Away
(CBS/TiqIQ) - Only four schools remain in the NCAA tournament as the remnants of the madness in March. While Florida, Kentucky, Wisconsin and UConn will be excited to head to Dallas this weekend for the Final Four, fans who have not purchased tickets to the event could be just as excited. On the secondary market, Final Four tickets are at their lowest point of the tournament and could continue to fall heading into the start of games this weekend.
Prices have been steadily dropping for the Final Four since hitting their peak price this past weekend. Sunday night after the final game of the Elite Eight, all-session Final Four tickets had an average price of $1,352.51. The $1,300+ average price was the result of a jump from a $1,040 average price before the Elite Eight games started. By Tuesday morning, the average price saw its biggest drop, falling to $1,023.13, and continued through Wednesday and Thursday with the average price sitting below $1,000 for the first time since the tournament began on Wednesday morning. The average price for an all-session strip is currently $837.66.
Now at its lowest price, an all-session strip is less expensive than it was for the Final Four in 2013. The average prices for individual sessions for the Final Four and championship game are also under the average secondary market price from last season. Like the all-session strip, tickets for the Final Four session hit their peak after the conclusion of the Elite Eight games at $753.54. In 2013, the average price for just the Final Four games was $887.90. This year’s price has dropped to just $513.44, a 32% decrease in just four days.
The championship game, however, saw its peak price in the days leading up to the start of the tournament and the average now is $250 less than it was before any games began. On March 16, four days before the Round of 64 started, the average price for the championship game on the secondary market was $669.88. After some price fluctuation up and down during the tournament, the average has steadily declined since the start of the Sweet Sixteen. The average price now is just $419.93 and on pace to drop below $400 before the game tips-off on Monday night. 2014’s price is currently 10% below the 2013 average of $486.16 and could end up closer to 2012’s average price of $362.60.
A high quantity of available tickets could be the biggest reason for the declining prices rather than a lack of demand. AT&T Stadium, this year’s Final Four host venue, has a capacity of over 30,000 more people than the Georgia Dome could hold last season. With more than 30,000 additional tickets, a price decline was likely as the games grew closer and that effect is currently being shown. With the same initial demand for Final Four tickets after this year’s Elite Eight games and using the Georgia Dome’s quantity of tickets available, prices for this weekend would likely have surpassed 2013. Due to AT&T Stadium having to sell enough extra tickets to fill the equivalent of an additional full-size NBA arena compared to the Georgia Dome, a price drop isn’t surprising heading into the weekend. The continued decline should leave some last minute value for one of the biggest weekends in college basketball.
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