The popularity of women's college basketball has pushed the price of resale tickets to the NCAA Final Four tournament north of $2,000 this week, according to Logitix, a technology company that scans prices across multiple platforms.
The college basketball tournament — one of the most wagered on sports events in the nation — is coming to a close this week. In the women's bracket, Iowa will face the University of Connecticut on Friday while, later that day, the University of South Carolina will take on the University of North Carolina.
The average price of a ticket sold to the NCAA women's semifinals was $2,323, while the average sale price for the men's was $1,001.21, Logitix reported Wednesday. Prices for the women's tournament have shot up amid surging demand for tickets, buoyed by stellar on-court performances of Louisiana State University's Angel Reese and the University of Iowa's Caitlin Clark.
Clark, Reese and other stars are "inspiring a new era of fandom and engagement," Chris Leyden, SeatGeek's growth marketing director, told CBS MoneyWatch this week.
The upcoming women's finals games are facing higher ticket prices, in part due to the limited supply of tickets. Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, where the games will be held, has a seating capacity of 19,423.
On the other hand, the men's games will be hosted at the 63,400-seat State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, making it three times larger. The average ticket price for the men's semifinals this year is $993.70, compared to $636.43 in 2023, according to Logitix.
As for the women's Final Four games, this year's prices have significantly surpassed last year's costs. Data from sales made a month ago and earlier show that the average price for the women's semifinals is $1,131.78, compared to $400.29 for the same period in 2023.
The women's tournament has drawn immense interest from devoted sports fans, leading to record-breaking viewership numbers. The recent game between LSU and Iowa attracted approximately 12.3 million viewers, setting a new record as the most-watched women's college basketball game ever. The previous record dated back to 1983, with 11.8 million viewers for the NCAA women's championship game between the University of Southern California and Louisiana Tech.
Furthermore, online sports betting platform FanDuel highlighted that the LSU-Iowa game also became the most bet-on women's game in history, whether collegiate or professional, as reported by CNBC.
Recent years have seen a rise in viewership for both men's and women's college basketball, with a significant boost coming from college-educated men tuning in through online streaming services. A survey conducted by S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan revealed that approximately 22% of internet-using Americans are watching NCAA basketball. Additionally, the survey found that 7% of respondents are now watching women's college basketball, a number that has increased to 9% just this month.
