While attending minor league games or amateur sporting events won’t necessarily “break the bank,” securing a ticket at the professional level is often a different story.
Aside from the rising price of concessions and memorabilia, watching your favorite team or athlete in person often requires taking out a loan just to afford the price of admission.. If you ever want to attend a playoff game or high-profile match, you’ll need to be willing to fork over a couple pay checks just to walk through the gate.. To understand just how ridiculous sporting events have become over the last decade or so, here’s some of the most expensive tickets of all time.
Chicago Cubs vs. Cleveland Indians (World Series 2016)
Everyone and their mothers tuned in to watch the 2016 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians. The Cubbies were looking to end a 108-year championship drought and The Tribe was trying to capture its first title since 1948.
After it was all said and done, it was the Chicago Cubs who ended their drought by knocking off the Indians 8-7 in 10 innings during the final game of a best-of-seven-series.. According to reports, the average price of a secondhand ticket was around $2,250. A few Cubs fans even dished out $1.17 million to watch their favorite club secure a World Series title from the best seats in the stadium.
Toronto Raptors vs. Golden State Warriors (2019 NBA Finals)
Although the 2016 NBA Finals was Golden State’s fifth straight championship appearance, basketball fans were excited to see if Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors could dethrone the Warriors.
Not only was this year’s championship series the only time a Finals gave had been played outside the United States, game six was the last the Warriors would play at their longtime home, Oracle Arena.. These scenarios and the Raptors underdog narrative drove ticket prices to around $700 a piece for the nose bleed section. It was reported that a pair of courtside tickets for one game cost a staggering $138,574.
Andy Murray vs. Novak Djokovic (2013 Wimbledon)
The last time a British man won a Grand Slam singles tournament was Fred Perry in 1936 at the All England Club. So when Andy Murray squared off against Novak Djokovic in the 2013 Wimbledon, the world was watching.
Leading up to the epic event, fans searched the internet high and low trying to secure a ticket to watch one of their own potentially make history. Tickets were extremely hard to come by, with some going as high as $65,000.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor (2017)
The bout between undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and MMA legend Conor McGregor was appropriately called the “Money Fight,” and boy did it live up to its moniker.
While McGregor’s first professional boxing match was scoffed at by a majority of boxing insiders, the match garnered loads of interest from sports fans. Sure, Mayweather toyed with him for ten rounds, but McGregor held his own.. Unfortunately, there was no way the average sports fan could watch the match in person, unless they were willing to sell everything they own and live in a cardboard box. Reports indicated that websites were selling single tickets for as high as $157,700.