The price of entry to this year’s World Series matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees could be the most expensive in recent history.
As of Tuesday evening, the cheapest single tickets to Game 1 in Los Angeles and Game 3 in New York are going for around $1,100 to $1,300 on StubHub’s resale market. As of 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the average ticket price for this year’s World Series was $1,667 on the resale site.
That’s compared to an average price of $884 in 2023 and $1,303 in 2022.
“From a demand standpoint and where we’re pacing now … it’s on track to be the best-selling World Series in StubHub’s history,” said Adam Budelli, a StubHub spokesperson.
Budelli said this year’s sales have already outpaced last year’s matchup between the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Sales are four times higher than the same time frame for the 2022 World Series and two times higher than the same time frame for the 2021 World Series.
That’s in part because of the teams involved.
“What we’re seeing here is two iconic and extremely large fan bases,” Budelli said.
It is perhaps the most expensive ticket to the Fall Classic since 2016, a year that paired two championship-hungry fan bases in the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians. The median price of a ticket sold on StubHub for the three games in Chicago in that series was more than $3,000, according to ESPN.
There’s the devotion of Yankees and Dodgers fans, who happen to be based in the two largest cities in the U.S. Then there’s the long history of the two teams meeting in the postseason.
Add in the highly anticipated matchup between likely MVPs Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani — coincidentally two of baseball’s biggest stars — and the fact that the Yankees have not made the World Series since 2009. The Dodgers last won the title in 2020, but at a neutral location in Texas with limited fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s a recipe for high ticket prices.
How prices compare to other major events this year
It’s hard to compare across sports — the Super Bowl includes just one game, and NBA stadiums accommodate fewer fans than baseball stadiums.
That said — Dodgers and Yankees fans have it easier than Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers fans. The average Super Bowl ticket went for $8,278 on StubHub this year.
Tickets to see the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals cost an average of $1,863. In contrast, tickets to the recently concluded WNBA finals cost an average of $163 on StubHub.
When’s the best time to buy?
Because of such high demand, ticket prices may not drop after the first pitch like they often do during the regular season.
“I’ve seen this in the past with World Series and other marquee events where typically a lot of people are waiting for those last-minute deals, and prices actually go up in those last windows because of the amount of people that are trying to buy and the limited number of tickets,” Budelli said.
Budelli recommended limiting the number of tickets to purchase — one solo ticket will be cheaper than finding seats for a group of six. He also suggests buying tickets from trusted sources and avoiding paying in cash to help steer clear of ticket scams.
But at the end of the day, don’t expect many lucky deals.
“Certainly I would not expect to see a massive decrease in some of the ticket pricing,” Budelli said.
Required reading
(Photo: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
