What-If LeBron Comes to the Knicks? Prepare to Pay The LeBron Premium…

Twitter is a buzz right now , with speculation that LeBron James is going to sign with the New York Knicks. SeatGeek  is based out of NYC, so this issue hits pretty close to home. Unfortunately, tickets are not on sale yet for the NBA, however, we did a quick data table to project potential ticket prices for the Knicks if LeBron James comes to the city. The data table displays projected prices on the interior that correspond with a respective baseline price and % potential increase (i.e. $119.00 corresponds with a $68 baseline price and a 75% increase in average prices). Last season, the Knicks transacted tickets prices on the re-sale market averaged $68  (I have highlighted that row in the table below). The left row data is potential baseline prices, assuming that there could be some change season-to-season even without LeBron. The top column %s, represent the potential increase on ticket prices with LeBron – i.e. “The LeBron Premium”.

• It is not hard to imagine a 50% increase in ticket prices – if this is the case, average re-sale prices will top $100 based on the premium over $68
• Initial homestand games in the city would garner particular hype, looking at the $68 2009-2010 baseline, we could speculate initial games trading at a 200% premium or more and topping the $200 mark on average

Of course, right now it is all speculation in regards to the actual price impact, and if LeBron will even end up in New York. We will certainly provide updated projections as he signs with a team, and actual transaction data as soon as tickets go on sale.

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This article is also featured on SeatGeek Sports Blog