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If the price is right...
Game 5 ticket prices skyrocketing with championship hopes
Posted: Thursday June 11, 1998 09:37 PM
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Scalping the Bulls is proving extremely lucrative for ticket brokers (AP) |
CHICAGO (AP) -- OK, die-hard Bulls fans: How badly to you want to see
what could be Michael
Jordan's last game for Chicago's NBA champions?
Enough to take out a second mortgage?
Enough to cancel your vacation?
Enough to dip into the kids' college funds?
That's about what it will take to get into the United Center on Friday to
see Jordan, Scottie Pippen
and the rest of the Bulls play the Utah Jazz in Game 6 of the
NBA Finals.
If the Bulls win, it will be their sixth championship this decade -- and
possibly the last time the current members will be on the court together.
Rumors have abounded for months that the team will be broken up before next
season.
A check with Chicago-area ticketbrokers found that what are usually the
cheap seats -- $40 each in the regular season -- are now selling for $700.
Moving down to the $90 seats will cost from $1,200 to $1,600. Tickets for
courtside seats -- with face values ranging from $120 to $425 -- are going
for $4,000 on average, but as much as a whopping $9,000.
"Selling Bulls tickets has been a great ride for eight years, but this
might be the top of the wave," said Eric Soderholm, president of Front Row
Ticket Service, which has four offices in Illinois. "Our business operates
on supply and demand and there are a lot of people who want to see the game
because so much is at stake. It could be the last time anyone sees Michael
Jordan."
And it could be the most fans have seen of Dennis Rodman.
The tattooed rebounder has said he will play his last game without clothes,
although neither he -- nor anyone else -- is commenting on who will be back
next year.
Most brokers said their best-selling seats are the cheapest or most
expensive. Mid-range tickets -- those between $1,000 and $3,000 -- are the
hardest to sell because fans are reluctant to pay big money for what
usually is a bad view.
"For most callers it's an ego thing or it's an emotional thing," said
Edward Faktorovich, a manager with AAA Tickets in Lincoln Park who has been
working overtime to meet the high demand. "It boils down to people who just
want to be inside and those who want to be seen. The people who pay $9,000
are actors and athletes who know their faces will be on television and they
want the free publicity."
Some brokers balk at the idea that prices are driven up by fans willing
to see the game at any price. They say publicity about high prices only
drives them up even more.
"Fans should know that it's the season ticket-holders who are driving
prices so high," said Lars Geary, a manager with Gold Coast Tickets who
won't talk about prices. "Season ticket-holders see one high price on the
news and it ruins it for everybody. We're buying their tickets at high
prices and then we're forced to sell them at high prices."
When deciding to fork over the big bucks, Geary says beware of brokers
trying to get rich quick.
"I've had over a dozen people try to sell a seat behind the basket for
$4,000," he said. "That's one of the worst seats in the house."
Bulls fans who don't watch the game at the United Center are also getting
a warning -- from Chicago police. The department said Thursday it already
has plans in place to keep the revelry from getting out of control if the
Bulls win.
Police will dress in riot gear, block off streets and deploy mounted
patrols to keep fans celebrating responsibly. They also will use a
high-tech monitoring system that processes 911 phone calls and maps out
incidents as they occur.
Police are expecting about 25 percent more emergency calls than on a
normal evening.
During last year's championship celebration, 579 people were arrested,
including five teen-agers who were charged in the fatal shooting of a
bystander in a street disturbance between rival gangs.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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