Final Four Ticket Prices Drop 32 Percent Since Monday

 

As March has ended, so has much of the madness of the NCAA Tournament. All that remains is the Final Four, and even with a No. 7 and No. 8 seed as two of the four remaining teams, there’s a lack of surprise the earlier rounds of the Tournament gives fans. Florida, Wisconsin, UConn and Kentucky are heading to Arlington, TX, this weekend and any fans who held out from purchasing Final Four tickets could join them at a below-market price.

Prices have been dropping on the secondary market for Final Four tickets since they hit their peak earlier this week. On Monday morning, Final Four all-session strips had an average price of $1,352.51. The $1,300-plus average price was the result of a jump from $1,040 before the Elite Eight games started. By Tuesday morning, the average price saw its biggest drop, falling to $1,023.13. The price drop continued Wednesday morning as the average price fell another 11 percent, sitting below $1,000 for the first time since the Tournament began.

Even at its low point now, the average price for an all-session strip is still above the 2013 price. The average price for the individual sessions, though, have been lagging behind the previous season. Like the all-session strip, tickets for the first Final Four session hit their peak after the conclusion of the Elite Eight games at a $753.54, but has since dropped to just $513.38, a 32 percent decrease in just two days.

The championship game, however, saw its price peak before the Tournament started. On March 18, two days before the Round of 64, the average price for the championship game on the secondary market was $646.88. After some back-and-forth fluctuations, the average has steadily decreased since the start of the Sweet 16, now at a season low $437.14. The average is comparable, but still below, the 2013 average of $468.16.

Too much supply could be the reason for the declining price more than lack of demand. Dallas’ AT&T Stadium, host of this year’s Final Four, can hold over 30,000 more people than the Georgia Dome could last season. With more than 30,000 additional tickets, a natural price decline was likely as the games grew closer. Using the same initial demand for tickets after the Elite Eight games this season and the Georgia Dome’s quantity of tickets available, prices for this weekend would likely have surpassed 2013. Because of the arena worth of extra quantity, prices are likely to keep dropping heading into the weekend leaving some last minute value for one of the biggest weekends in college basketball.