Ticket prices for the NCAA Women’s Final Four and championship games in Cleveland increased dramatically after Elite 8 games Monday headlined by a rematch of last year’s national championship between Iowa and LSU, according to secondary market data from ticket sales company TicketiQ—which reported prices are higher than those for the men’s Final Four and championship.
LSU players Angel Reese (10), Aneesah Morrow (24) and Flau'jae Johnson (4) defend against Iowa guard ... [+]
The average price for this year’s semifinals Friday in the women’s tournament is $1,994—up about 190% from last year’s average price—and the get-in price is $649, according to TicketiQ data.
The average price for the women’s national championship game Sunday is $1,512, and the get-in price is $694—both about three times what the cost was last year.
After the Elite 8 games Monday night—two of which featured three of the biggest stars in women’s college basketball: Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers—the get-in price for the semifinals increased 36.3% and the get-in price for the championship increased 118.2%.
Men’s ticket prices for the Final Four and championship games are the highest since TicketiQ began tracking in 2011, but are still lower than the price of the women’s tickets, according to Tuesday morning’s data. For the men’s semifinals, the average price is $1,603 and the get-in is $501, and for the championship the average is $885 and the get-in is $221.
19,432. That’s the capacity of Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, the arena in Cleveland where the women’s final games will be played. The men are playing at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, where the capacity is around 73,000.
The Iowa Hawkeyes, South Carolina Gamecocks, North Carolina State Wolfpack and Connecticut Huskies make up this year’s women’s Final Four. South Carolina and Iowa were both one seeds in the tournament, and UConn and NC State were both three seeds. Women’s basketball has had more eyes on it this season than any year past, in large part due to Iowa’s Clark, who led Iowa to the Final Four with 41 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds in Monday’s game against LSU. Clark has broken countless records in her four years at Iowa—including the all-time NCAA scoring record for men or women—and has drawn thousands of new fans to the game, with the team selling out at least 11 road games in its regular season and selling out nearly all of its home games in Iowa City. Clark is in her final season at Iowa and will enter the WNBA draft later this month.
The first women’s Final Four game between South Carolina and NC State is Friday at 7 p.m. ET, followed by Iowa and UConn at 9:30 p.m. ET.