Ad Disclosure
Market Report: Breaking down Sweet 16 ticket prices for Big Ten teams
By Kevin Duffey
Published:
The Big Ten qualified eight teams for the 2019 NCAA Tournament and two rounds in, three are left on the floor. No. 2 seeds Michigan and Michigan State and No. 3 seed Purdue all got through the first two rounds without too much of a scare, and will play in the Sweet 16 at three different sites across the country. Purdue and Michigan State will have the luxury of playing fairly close to home — Purdue is at the South Regional in Louisville, Kentucky and Michigan State is headed to the East Regional in Washington, D.C. But Michigan will fly cross country this week for its meeting with Texas Tech in Anaheim, California.
None of the three are strangers to March Madness, though Purdue is the only one that hasn’t won a national championship — Michigan won in 1989 and Michigan State in 1979 and 2000. All three have advanced to the Final Four at least twice.
Tickets for all three regionals are available through secondary ticket marketplace TicketIQ.com, and the average asking price ranges from $475 at the South Regional to $1,380 at the East Regional.
The Sweet 16 and Elite 8 are set for regional sites across the U.S., with the Sweet 16 set for Thursday and Friday, and the Elite 8 for Saturday and Sunday. Winners of those Elite 8 games will get a shot at the Final Four in Minneapolis, April 6-8. Below is a look at the matches for the Big 10 teams still playing.
No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 3 Purdue
- When: Thursday, March 28, 7:29 p.m. on TBS
- Where: South Regional, KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY
- All Session Pass Average Price/Get-In Price: $475/$223
- Session 1 Average Price/Get-In Price: $322/$122
Purdue is considered a slight underdog in this game, even though it was Tennessee that cut it close in both its first- and second-round games to advance. Tennessee needed overtime to get past another Big 10 team — Iowa — in the second round. Purdue and Tennessee have played only four times, and each team has won twice. The last meeting was in 2017-18, when the Vols beat the Boilermakers, 78-75, in the ‘Battle 4 Atlantis’ in the Bahamas.
According to TicketIQ.com, there are fewer than 434 all-session passes remaining on the secondary market. Fans can buy access to individual sessions for $303 on the secondary market. The $475 all-session pass on the secondary market is the cheapest of all four regionals.
No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 2 Michigan
- When: Thursday, March 28, 9:39 p.m. on CBS
- Where: West Regional, Honda Center, Anaheim, CA
- All Session Pass Average Price/Get-In Price: $501/$225
- Session 1 Average Price/Get-In Price: $482/$138
The second cheapest of the regionals will give West Coast Michigan fans a rare chance to see their team in person. Michigan is making a third consecutive appearance in the Sweet 16, and they got to the national championship last year before losing to Villanova. In 2017, Michigan lost in the Sweet 16. The Red Raiders got to the Elite 8 last year before also losing to Villanova. Texas Tech has never won a national championship. These teams feature two of the top defenses in the country, so expect a low-scoring game … and Michigan to win, if only because they’ve been slightly better than Texas Tech offensively all season.
There are 438 all-session passes remaining on the secondary market, according to TicketIQ.com, and 227 or less individual session passes available for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8. Demand has pushed the average asking price of a Sweet 16 ticket to $232 and the average asking price for an Elite 8 ticket to $317, both significant increases since Selection Sunday.
No. 3 LSU vs. No. 2 Michigan State
- When: Friday, March 29 at 7:09 p.m. on CBS
- Where: East Regional, Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
- All Session Pass Average Price/Get-In Price: $1,380/$475
- Session 1 Average Price/Get-In: $739/$300
Michigan State enters this game as six-point favorites, according to multiple oddsmakers. Neither team will have an easy time getting out of Washington, as the winner will likely face overall No. 1 seed Duke, which plays Virginia Tech in the other regional semifinal. The teams have played two common opponents — Florida and Maryland. MSU beat both teams while LSU lost to Florida twice, but beat Maryland. LSU hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2015 and is playing for interim coach Tony Benford who is filling in after Will Wade was suspended. Michigan State has made the tournament every year since 1998, and last got to the Final Four in 2015.
The East Regional is by far the most expensive of the four, and the average asking price for an all-session pass is up by nearly 48 percent since Selection Sunday, according to TicketIQ.com. Only 276 all-session passes remain on the secondary market. The average asking price of the Sweet 16 on the secondary market has dropped to $606 since Selection Sunday, while the average for the Elite 8 has nearly doubled, to $995.
Fans who are ready to buy tickets for the Final Four have an additional option through Shoowin.com, which sells reservations for face-value or no cost tickets to big events. For the Final Four this allows customers to buy a reservation for a ticket for their favorite team to Final Four for a chance at getting Final Four tickets for no extra cost. Prices for the remaining Big Ten teams can be found below:
Kevin is a lifelong college football fan.