Spectators hoping to witness one of the NBA Finals matchups between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics over the next few weeks better be willing to shell out major amounts of moola.
According to Arash Markazi, the 2022 NBA Finals features an average ticket price of $1,383 per seat.
This is by far a new record for the highest cost per seat in NBA Finals history.
2022’s average ticket price is $809 more than 2018’s average
Sure, the biggest competitive events of the year generally do fetch a higher price, that’s nothing new. But for some additional context, the last time the Warriors won their NBA Championship, in 2018, the average price was $574 per seat. For the cost to have more than doubled since is absolutely astounding.
For what it’s worth, last year’s average NBA Finals ticket price was $1,181 and in 2019 it was $1,147.
This time around, it means for the 18,000+ people that can fill the Chase Center in San Francisco or the 19,000+ that can fill the TD Garden in Boston, they can expect to pay just over $1,000 simply to have a place to sit or stand.
This doesn’t factor in additional costs like gas/travel/parking or a meal to keep them going. This is simply the price of admission.
But, people are willing to pay it, knowing they’ll get a chance to witness the greatness of Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum in person, and hopefully make a memory that will last a lifetime.
If $1,383 per ticket is the price, then some will happily pay whatever it costs. Whether it’s worth it or not probably depends on where your loyalties lie and whether your team won or lost, but that’s for the NBA gods to decide.
Related: 2022 NBA Finals: Ranking the top-10 players between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics