# How much do tickets to major sports championship events cost **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 26, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594 "2015-11-26T01:17:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/1 "2015-11-26T01:17:58Z")
What is a price estimate for tickets to a heavyweight boxing match, world series, superbowl, mma match, NBA finals, etc. What about a cheap vs best seat, or just a medium quality seat. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/2 "2015-11-26T01:44:02Z")
I got really lucky a couple years ago and got a ticket to an ALCS game for $30. I bought it on the street, and it was a cold rainy night. Still a Great game. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/3 "2015-11-26T02:49:37Z")
If you’re in Dusseldorf this Saturday you can pick up tickets for Klitschko v Fury [for 26 pounds](http://www.seatwave.com/klitschko-vs-fury-tickets/esprit-arena-tickets/28-november-2015/perf/993552). ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/4 "2015-11-26T02:51:07Z")
> [@](#): > > (T)he average ticket broker price for a ticket to Super Bowl XLIX [del]is[/del] was $10,352 … [How much does a Super Bowl ticket cost? More than you can probably imagine - al.com](http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/01/how_much_does_a_super_bowl_tic.html) (Seattle vs. New England.) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/5 "2015-11-26T02:54:05Z")
Cheapest 2015 World Series ticket I could find (outfield seat, Game 1) had an _official_ price of $265. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/6 "2015-11-26T02:55:01Z")
Moved to the Game Room. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/7 "2015-11-26T04:05:48Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > (T)he average ticket broker price for a ticket to Super Bowl XLIX was $10,352 … The quoted article is describing a moment late in the runup to the game, when prices spiked. That certainly was not the average ticket price paid. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/8 "2015-11-26T04:10:41Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Cheapest 2015 World Series ticket I could find (outfield seat, Game 1) had an _official_ price of $265. I paid about $210 for a ticket to game two of the 2011 World Series. St. Louis, outfield, 5th row. I froze my ass off, if anyone cares. I’d have paid another $210 for a blanket. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/9 "2015-11-26T04:13:51Z")
The basic answer to the OP’s question is: it depends (on supply and demand). I’ve attended NHL playoff games with a ticket bought at the last minute for less than face value (when the game is about to start and the scalpers are still holding bunches of tickets, the price drops sharply). But the guy who wants guaranteed seating for 4 on the 50-yard line for a Superbowl a couple of weeks before it starts can expect to pay seriously bug bucks. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/10 "2015-11-26T04:49:00Z")
As there are sports outside N America… F[IFA World Cup Final tickets cost about $440 for the cheapiest ticket and $990 for the most expensive,](http://www.bbc.com/news/business-23377890). For the ICC Cricket World Cup final back in March, the price was several hundred Australian dollars on average. (Both of these are a bit misleading, as the typical ticket holder had to buy a package, s/he could not usually just get a ticket for a final, these packages usually were for some matches, and cost a combined several thousand dollars.) For Champions League final in Berlin, [the prices](http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2217193.html)were > [@](#): > > Category 1: €390 > Category 2: €280 > Category 3: €160 > Category 4: €70 > > Youth Package: €140 (1 adult + 1 child tickets). > > Accessible tickets for wheelchair users and easy access tickets are also available. A valid proof of disability needs to be provided during the application. Each accessible ticket costs €70; a free seat for an accompanying adult can be requested as well. In addition both the Finalists teams (Juventus of Turin, Italy and Barcelona of Spain) were given several thousand tickets for their fans; which were distributed by the clubs themselves. All the above cases also had tickets reserved for sponsors, local bigwigs etc. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/11 "2015-11-26T06:08:54Z")
The cheapest way to buy a Super Bowl ticket is joining the lottery. Some relatively cheap tickets are held aside for the “regular fans”. The problem is that the odds are against you, in 2014 there were only a thousand tickets and around thirty thousand people in the lottery - and that was double the five hundred tickets from 2013. And those relatively cheap tickets still cost five hundred dollars apiece. Plus the lottery is held before the season even begins. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/12 "2015-11-26T08:11:14Z")
Are the participating teams given tickets at all, like in the Champions League Final? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/13 "2015-11-26T13:43:35Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Are the participating teams given tickets at all, like in the Champions League Final? Most Super Bowl tickets are allotted to the teams. (All NFL teams.) Out of those current NFL players can purchase two, and players on the participating teams can purchase 15. [Here’s](http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2015/01/29/super-bowl-tickets-nfl-owners-scalping-rules/22558673/) an article from the last Super Bowl that discusses the finances of Super Bowl tickets. ---
**Author:** ![upend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b3f665/32.png) [@upend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/upend)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/14 "2015-11-26T14:06:21Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Are the participating teams given tickets at all, like in the Champions League Final? teams are allocated a proportion of tickets. the exact amount would vary on the size of the stadium used. Typically each team would get around 18-20,000 tickets for a 60,000 stadium. The rest go to sponsors, country FA’s and through a spectator ballot (typically before the finalists are known). (phew managed to get through that without mentioning “bribe”) My club Chelsea played Bayern Munich in Munich in 2012 - Munich could have sold the stadium out 10 times. My ticket, by the way was around £300 for a mid-price ticket. For the recent Rugby World Cup, final tickets were from £90 to £720 for standard tickets. Silly money for corporate hospitality. There’s no doubt that costs for tickets for many major events has soared in the past 10 years - the argument being, “why should we sell tickets at £50/€50/$50 and them see them on Seatwave\* at 10,000, 5 minutes later” \*other legalised touts also available ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/15 "2015-11-27T02:20:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The cheapest way to buy a Super Bowl ticket is joining the lottery. Some relatively cheap tickets are held aside for the “regular fans”. The problem is that the odds are against you, in 2014 there were only a thousand tickets and around thirty thousand people in the lottery - and that was double the five hundred tickets from 2013. And those relatively cheap tickets still cost five hundred dollars apiece. Plus the lottery is held before the season even begins. This: there’s another lottery for season ticket holders of each team involved right after the conference championship games. A guy I work with has Patriots season tickets and actually won that raffle last year… for the privilege to spend $800 each on two crappy tickets, plus he got to figure out how to fly out to Arizona and find somewhere to stay when everyone else had their travel booked for months. (Of course, being a Patriots fan at that particular Super Bowl was quite the life experience, so there’s that at least.) ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/16 "2015-11-27T02:33:36Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > … I’d have paid another $210 for a blanket. SOLD! How many blankets do you want? I can ship em out in time for Xmas… ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tickets-to-major-sports-championship-events-cost/738594/17 "2015-11-27T02:49:41Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Cheapest 2015 World Series ticket I could find (outfield seat, Game 1) had an _official_ price of $265. I paid about $225 for the games in NY - and that was in the outfield on field level. The higher-up and standing room tickets would have been cheaper and the better field-level seats would have been more.