Last week, the Boston Celtics knocked the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers (led by Lebron James) out of the NBA playoffs, to the surprise of many.
While Cleveland fans will probably never find solace in the unceremonious defeat (Game 5 of the series has been dubbed "The LeBacle"), basketball fans at large now have pretty good reason to be excited -- lower ticket prices.
SeatGeek (a ticket-price aggregator) has estimated that, had Lebron and the Cavs survived to play in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic, an average ticket for a game in Cleveland would have cost $349 (this being the resale price, not the ticket's face value).
So how does that compare to the actual cost of tickets for the current, non-Lebron matchup between the Celtics and Magic? Does Lebron skew his hometown ticket prices that much? According to SeatGeek, the answer is an emphatic YES.
Single ticket for a game in Boston: $157.81
Single ticket for a game in Orlando: $157.90
Even though folks in Cleveland tend to make a lot less than those living in Boston or Orlando (based on the per capita income figures at City-Data.com), the Cavalier faithful would have been paying over twice as much to watch their team play for the right to go to the NBA Finals than fans in Boston and Orlando are paying for the same situation, with their team in their city.
(It's also not beyond the realm of possibility that Lebron's presence would also have affected the resale costs for tickets in Orlando, if the Magic were playing the Cavs. So... Magic fans should also be pleased.)
While Cleveland fans will probably never find solace in the unceremonious defeat (Game 5 of the series has been dubbed "The LeBacle"), basketball fans at large now have pretty good reason to be excited -- lower ticket prices.
SeatGeek (a ticket-price aggregator) has estimated that, had Lebron and the Cavs survived to play in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic, an average ticket for a game in Cleveland would have cost $349 (this being the resale price, not the ticket's face value).
So how does that compare to the actual cost of tickets for the current, non-Lebron matchup between the Celtics and Magic? Does Lebron skew his hometown ticket prices that much? According to SeatGeek, the answer is an emphatic YES.
Single ticket for a game in Boston: $157.81
Single ticket for a game in Orlando: $157.90
Even though folks in Cleveland tend to make a lot less than those living in Boston or Orlando (based on the per capita income figures at City-Data.com), the Cavalier faithful would have been paying over twice as much to watch their team play for the right to go to the NBA Finals than fans in Boston and Orlando are paying for the same situation, with their team in their city.
(It's also not beyond the realm of possibility that Lebron's presence would also have affected the resale costs for tickets in Orlando, if the Magic were playing the Cavs. So... Magic fans should also be pleased.)
