The tickets are punched, the matchups set, and plans are underway – Kansas, Villanova, Michigan and Loyola-Chicago are dancing on to the Final Four at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Now, fans are in the scramble to secure their passes. So what is the early market on NCAA Final Four ticket prices?
Going by the median numbers for single tickets available to members of Ticket Club, it’ll cost fans about $428 to see the NCAA finals on Monday, April 2. The semifinals – which will pit No. 3 seed Michigan against Cinderella No. 11 Loyola in one while top seeds Villanova and Kansas clash in the other – are running at a median of $779 per ticket. An all-sessions pass – which covers admissions for both Saturday and Monday – are $955, with all prices as of 10 PM Sunday evening.
Those numbers are only slightly up from earlier on Sunday, where an all-sessions pass could be had for $955, semifinals for $779, and finals for $334. Given that both of the top seeds – which carry with them substantial fan bases and interest – advanced, it’s very possible those numbers will continue to trend upwards into Monday, though we’ll have to take a look in the morning to see if that theory pans out.
Kansas, in particular, is expected to help keep the prices at a higher ebb, with all due respect to the fans of the Jayhawks’ opponent in the regional final, Duke. For the third straight weekend, Bill Self’s team will have the distance advantage over its foes, hopping from its first round games at Wichita to its regional in Omaha, and now having the shortest trip for the Final Four. How much did that mean in terms of ticket prices? Well, the games in Nebraska happened to be the No. 2 (Friday) and No. 3 (Sunday) best-selling tickets in college basketball for the entire year, trailing only the semifinals of the ACC tournament in Brooklyn in volume.
NCAA Final Four Ticket Prices – Sunday Evening
Find NCAA Final Four Tickets – No Fees for Ticket Club Members
All Sessions (Saturday and Monday) | Semifinals (Saturday) | Championship (Monday)
Also, not that it carries any real meaning, but superstitious types could also note that when the Jayhawks captured the 2008 NCAA Championship, they did so by winning games in Omaha (first and second rounds) before cutting the nets at the Alamodome after taking down Memphis in the finals. They’ve also captured the NCAA title in each of the previous two decades “8” year, taking victory in 1988 as well as ten years ago. Their other championship came in 1952. A win next weekend would elevate the Jayhawks to a tie for the sixth highest total among all NCAA programs with Connecticut.
Villanova is the most recent champion among this year’s Final Four, having taken the 2016 NCAA Championship as well as a Cinderella run to the crown as the No. 8 seed back in 1985. Both Michigan and Loyola-Chicago are seeking their second NCAA title, with the Wolverines’ lone championship coming back in 1989 while the Ramblers last won in 1963.
As of Sunday evening, it’s certainly possible to get tickets for substantially lower than the median prices we’ve seen established in the market. The “get-in” price for the final is the lowest of the bunch, with a single ticket at $174 for Ticket Club members. The semifinals are just shy of three bills at $290 get-in, with an all-sessions single ticket available for as little as $412. The other end of the spectrum is pretty gaudy at the moment, particularly for the semifinals. There is a single ticket for that first Saturday double-header with a heady ask of $66,776 price tag. Though, at that kind of a rate, the Ticket Club value of paying no buyer fees on the tickets would go a long way. The finals have a maximum asking price of $27,828 at the moment, while the most expensive ask on the market for an all-sessions ticket is $18,208.
Obviously those outlier numbers skew the averages northward, as they currently sit at $1,736 for an all-sessions pass, $1,424 for the semifinals, and $1,237 for the championship game. Those numbers sit in stark contrast to the current average prices of tickets sold for the games next weekend. The averages stand at $636 for all-sessions passes, with a $328 average for semifinals session tickets, and $311 for championship game tickets. Those are lower, but only slightly, than last year’s Final Four, which wound up seeing an average sold price of $817 for all-sessions tickets, $454 for semifinals, and $325 for the championship game.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on things (and providing regular updates, most likely) as things progress, so be sure to check back with us at Ticket Club. So where will prices trend? It’s too early to say, but it’s easy to feel bullish, given the Kansas track record of fan support through prior tournament runs and this year’s sales in particular. Add to that the recent success of Villanova and its engaged fans, and the enormous fan base that Michigan carries with it, with a dash of the Cinderella Loyola factor, there could be a formula in place for a rollicking final week of sales for the biggest event of the college basketball year.