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NCAA West Regional Ticket Prices In Anaheim Boosted By Presence Of San Diego State

(CBS/TiqIQ) - Prices for the West Regional NCAA Tournament tickets at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California have been on the rise over the past few days since San Diego State University defeated North Dakota State to punch their ticket back to Southern California. Joining the #4 Aztecs are #1 seeded Arizona, #2 Wisconsin, and #6 Baylor, to make this a regional that has both top seeds and local participation—two characteristics that often catalyze higher ticket prices when it comes to the NCAA Tournament.

Currently, an all sessions ticket strip for the West Regionals carries an average price tag of $589.83 on the secondary market. This figure is second only to the East Regionals, which make their return to the ‘Mecca of Basketball,’ New York’s Madison Square Garden, for the first time since 1961. While a West Regionals strip is significantly less expensive than an East strip, which checks in at $969.57, it still carries a significant premium over the Midwest and South Regional strips, which have average prices of $510.55 and $280.01, respectively. Additionally, get-in prices for the West Regional follow the same hierarchy with a price tag of $251, 35% less than the East ($386), but 12.1% above the Midwest ($224) and 139% above the South ($105).

On Friday, the West Regionals had an average price of $293.82 across all sessions individually. The next day, after San Diego State had conquered a feisty North Dakota State squad, ticket prices jumped up to $347.71. On Sunday, after Arizona took care of business against Gonzaga to cause a real Southwest Sweet 16 matchup between the Aztecs and Wildcats, tickets jumped further still to $370.09. Today, Sweet 16 tickets in the West Region still have not stopped rising, and currently average $376.70. After the bump over the past few days, West Regionals are at their highest price in three years since TiqIQ began tracking the NCAA Tournament market, besting last year’s mark of $341.96.

Session 1, which features the Sweet 16 matchup between San Diego State and Arizona, is the most expensive Session of the West Regionals with an average price of $507.30 and a get-in price of $226. Given these prices, it’s as if fans are getting Elite 8 tickets for a minimal premium of 16.3% if they choose to purchase the all sessions strip. Session 1 prices in Anaheim are well above those of the Midwest Region ($295) and the South Region ($145.23), but still a bit less than the East which checks in at $651.09. Similar to the West, the East has top teams involved as well as the local aspect provided by Connecticut. While Louisville vs. Kentucky is a premier matchup in the Midwest, the regional site of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis results in a larger supply of tickets available, so prices are naturally a bit lower. The South Regionals at the FedEx Forum in Memphis features Florida vs. UCLA and Dayton vs. Stanford, so Florida is really the only team with any semblance of a local fan presence.

While West Regionals tickets have been on the rise, Final Four tickets have actually taken a downward turn over the past two days following the loss of teams such as Kansas, Villanova, Wichita State, and Syracuse. Currently, Final Four Semifinals tickets have an average price of $613.40, while championship tickets check in at $586.44—less than what it costs to see the East or West Regionals.

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