With easiest trip to Minneapolis, Michigan State driving up prices for Final Four tickets

While much of America thought that Duke and their freshman phenom Zion Williamson were a lock for the 2019 Final Four, Michigan State had other ideas. After their upset of top-seeded Duke, The Spartans will appear in their 10th Final Four, and eighth under current head coach Tom Izzo. In pursuit of the first championship since 2000, they’ll have to content with the No. 3 seed Texas Tech, playing in their first-ever final four.

For fans looking to make the trip to Minneapolis, tickets for the semi-finals start at $311 while prices for the finals on Monday night start at $140. Fans looking to make the commitment for an All Sessions pass will pay $422.

While prices have dropped 17% in the last 24 hours, it’s still currently the 2nd most expensive final four TicketIQ has tracked since 2011–behind last year in San Antonio and just ahead of 2015, the last time that Michigan State reached the final four, in Indianapolis.  That year, the average price for tickets to the semi-final cracked $1,100 when the four finalists included blue-chip programs Wisconsin, Kentucky, Duke, in addition to Michigan State.  Indianapolis was also an easy trip for Kentucky fans, who only had to drive 2 hours. This year, a trip from Detroit to Minnesota and U.S. Bank Stadium start at $494, which is the second-cheapest flight, after flights from Washington, DC.

This year, while there are less blue-chip programs, Texas Tech and Auburn are both making their first trip to the final four while UVA is in the Final Four for the first time in 35 years.  Along with Michigan State’s storied program and deep fan base, it’s not surprising that prices were historically high in 2015.

While Michigan State has the most history and success for any of the schools competing for this year’s championship, of the four teams making the trip North, Auburn’s surprise win over Kentucky had the biggest impact on ticket prices for 2019. As the below infographic shows, prices jumped almost 40% between the elite eight and Auburn’s dramatic win against top-seeded Kentucky, and 15% after the Tigers punched their ticket to Minneapolis.

For Saturday Night’s Semi-Finals, the most expensive ticket is over $5,000, which will get you a seat in the 17th row seat in the Delta 360 Suite at the top of the key.  For Fans looking for lower level tickets for less, $700 gets you a seat in the 39th row of section 116, which is in the corner of the lower level. The best value may be for tickets in the 300-level close to center court, where $587 gets you an 11th row ticket.

For real value hunters who want to make sure they see a shot at the title, there’s always the option of staying at home for the semi-final and catching the finals Monday night.  Right now, the cheapest ticket for Monday’s final is $149, and could drop depending on who wins and loses on Saturday night. The same Delta 360 seat that’s going for over $5,000 on Friday night is currently available for $1,100.  Upper level prices are not quite as steeply discounted, with 17th row 300-level ticket at midcourt tickets going for $200–not a bad deal for what would be Sparty’s first championship since 2000. Flights leaving Sunday and returning Tuesday are also about $100 less than flight leaving Friday or Saturday.

Kevin Duffey

Kevin is a lifelong college football fan.