Ticket prices for Heat-Thunder NBA Finals Game One are “soaring on the so-called secondary ticket market,” according to Ryan Aber of the OKLAHOMAN. Prices on OklahomaTickets.com yesterday “ranged from around $377 for a single seat high in Loud City to more than $5,000 for a front-row seat in the lower bowl -- not on the floor -- where multiple seats were available together.” StubHub.com “offered around 800 tickets for Games 1 and 2,” while for the games in Miami, there were “more than 2,000 available.” StubHub Head of U.S. Communications Joellen Ferrer said that the average ticket price for Game One "was more than $700, with a low price of $250." The average for Game Two is $827. StubHub’s “highest demand game” in Oklahoma City during the regular-season came March 25 against the Heat. Tickets for that game averaged $202, while the average price for Game Four in Miami is $472. Aber noted the Thunder will “give away or sell the final 200 tickets in the Thunder Rewards Zone before each home game of the Finals” (NEWSOK.com, 6/10).
THE PARTY IS OVER: The Thunder last month decided to end game watch parties as part of its Thunder Alley following a shooting. Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said of the move, "The (watch-party) crowd was doubling with each game. Finally, on that Monday night, the crowd turned. It was not the same crowd that had been there previously. It was not the wholesome excitement that I think was depicted on television.” He added, “I could tell the police were extremely uncomfortable with their ability to control it. They were losing confidence in their ability to assure the public safety. They expressed that to me. ... We were afraid that the crowd would continue to grow. We were concerned about where this was headed.” Cornett said, "Ultimately, there was a strong consensus. The team, the people who run the arena, the police, our city leadership -- we agreed to build an exciting pregame atmosphere out there, but let's not show the game on the big screen outside the arena" (TULSA WORLD, 6/11).
