In just a week, the best of the NBA will head to Toronto for the 2016 NBA All-Star Weekend, taking place at the Raptor’s Air Canada Centre February 12-14. Fans still looking to score tickets to any of the weekend’s events should be prepared to dig deep into their pockets. Ticket prices for not just the 2016 All-Star game, but all events that weekend are the most expensive the NBA has ever seen.
According to Rukkus, the average ticket price for the 2016 NBA All-Star Game is currently $3,166.75. The current get-in price sits at $420, and the most expensive seats in the arena are going for $6,800. These ticket prices are up more than 150% over last year in NYC.
The 2015 NBA All-Star Saturday Night event at the Barclays Center and the All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden were the most expensive basketball events held in either arena since secondary ticket data has been available. The All-Star game on Sunday saw an average price of $1,100 in the days leading up to the game. At the Barclays Center, the average ticket for the Saturday night skills competitions was $500, which made it the most expensive event at Barclays since its doors opened in 2012.
High-ticket prices for All-Star games have often been the result of so few tickets made available to the public. Before tickets go on sale, seats have already been allocated for stakeholders, NBA players and families, former players, team sponsors, broadcasting sponsors, and the media. Organizers say more 1,00 media members will be seated for Friday and Saturdays events in Toronto. The Air Canada Centre holds 19,800 spectators for Raptors games.
2016 will be the first NBA All-Star game held outside of the United States. Canadian basketball has been on a roll lately as the number one overall picks of the 2013 and 2014 NBA Drafts were both Canadian born players. There are now a dozen active Canadian players in the league. The Toronto Raptors have emerged as a top team in the East, and have a pair of All-Stars in Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. 70% of ticket orders have come from Canada so far this year, compared to just 2% in 2015.
With NBA All-Star weekend ticket prices at a never-before-seen high right now, expect them to fall in the days leading up to the weekend.