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Miami Heat tickets are red-hot

Kenny Malone Jun 21, 2012
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Miami Heat tickets are red-hot

Kenny Malone Jun 21, 2012
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Jeremy Hobson: Tonight, there will be what you might call a perfect storm, when the Heat and Thunder collide in Miami. I’m talking of course about the NBA Finals. The Miami Heat lead the Oklahoma City Thunder three games to one right now, which means one more win for Miami and it gets the championship. And wait till you hear how much people are gonna have to shell out for tickets.

From WLRN in Miami, here’s Kenny Malone.


Ticket broker: How you doin’ sir?

Bo Irwin: Hey, how you doing?

Kenny Malone: Bo Irwin is from Manchester, England. He’s 25 years old and just happens to be in town for arguably the biggest basketball game in Miami history. So he popped his head into Tickets of America, a broker down the street from the Heat’s arena.

Irwin: I just want to know how much they’re going to be on Thursday?

Ticket broker: All right, so we’ve got a couple different options for you all starting around the $500 range.

…A little too much for Irwin.

Irwin: OK, yeah, I’ll just have a little think and then I’ll come back.

Prices for this Game 5 have gotten as high $25,000 for a courtside seat. But maybe fans should be more concerned with the future.

Anbritt Stengele: In years past, many ownerships have decided to raise their ticket prices after a championship has been won.

Anbritt Stengele runs Sports Traveler, a sports-centric travel agency in Chicago.

Stengele: Because they do also know that the demand on their ticket is going up and the demand on their season ticket is going up also.

Stengele says there’s no formula for how much tickets go up. But she says you’ll want to get your tickets for the Heat season opener as early as possible — everyone wants to be there when the champions get their rings.

In Miami, I’m Kenny Malone for Marketplace.

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