NCAA ticket prices plummet following Duke loss

TickPick Co-Founder and Co-CEO Brett Goldberg joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss how Duke's loss has impacted the price of tickets for the NCAA Tournament's championship game.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING] - Welcome back. Call it the Coach K crash. Duke fans across the country were crushed Saturday night, self included, after Duke lost to North Carolina, and with it, the career of Mike Krzyzewski came to an end. But there was an entire profession of people that were even sadder than us, and that was ticket brokers and online ticket retailers. Because the ticket prices just absolutely crashed for tonight's national championship game, despite the fact it is between two storied powers in the history of college basketball. Let's talk tix with Brett Goldberg. He is the CEO of TickPick, also the co-founder as well. Brett, good to see you, man. So how do you quantify exactly what happened to these tickets upon Duke losing and North Carolina advancing? BRETT GOLDBERG: You know that there is a ton of hype around this, it would have been a one-time type of event, and obviously, Duke lost and prices came crashing down. - So what was the ticket price to get in before they lost? What is it now? BRETT GOLDBERG: We were selling tickets above $100, around $130. And now we're seeing tickets sell for $39, lowest get in price right now, $35. That's the all in price on TickPick. So the price to get in is the price you pay. It's come down quite a bit. - And we're talking about all in fees are already included. We saw the average ticket price there. We're talking about North Carolina versus Kansas, two of the storied programs in the history of college basketball, yet you're telling me I can get in for $30 bucks. How does that compare historically? BRETT GOLDBERG: Yes, so for us right now, this is the cheapest get in price that we've seen in seven years. I think there's a couple of factors there. I saw a couple of the prices that you just showed up there. I think as we said, anything you're going to see on TickPick going to be the all in price, where sometimes people are comparing prices before fees. But for us, it's the cheapest ticket that we've seen for seven years. And part of that is the demand in the local market. So New Orleans is just not quite the basketball town that other host cities would be, and that's also part of the factor that's playing here. - Just a couple of hours away from tip time between Kansas and North Carolina. Where is whatever demand there is, where is it coming from? More North Carolina or more Kansas? BRETT GOLDBERG: More North Carolina. Also adding to that is the direct flights in getting to New Orleans from North Carolina is really expensive. And those things play into what the demand is and what people are willing to pay. And I also think these games are in football stadiums now. And the championship game's on a Monday. If you're there for the Saturday, you're there for the Final Four game, it's just a little bit more challenging to stay there on a Monday. It's not quite as appealing as a weekend game. So lots of different factors all coming into play here. - Yeah, probably doesn't help either a lot of people saw Saturday night some of the sight lines at that stadium, Brett, it's not a perfect watch at a football stadium. What about on the high end of tickets for tonight's game? How high are the prices going for those prime sideline seats in the top 30 to 40 rows? BRETT GOLDBERG: We've had a couple of sales that were in the $3,000 range per ticket. But in general now, that market's also come crashing down where to have a really good seat here, you're talking $200 or $300. It's cheaper than going to a Knicks game. - Wow, That is incredible. Just so hard to believe when we're talking about a coach, not the players, we're talking about a 70-year-old coach who sits on the bench most of the game. Really unique to see that ticket demand fall so far, so fast. Couple of other events this week I have to ask you about. Of course, it is Masters week, and the big question in the minds of everyone is Tiger Woods. What are you seeing in terms of ticket demand? And what would it mean if, in fact, he does announce he'll play? BRETT GOLDBERG: You started off this segment talking about ticket brokers and how they've got a lot of skin in the game here. And for the Masters, we're already seeing that priced into this with the expectation that it's possible Tiger Woods comes. So we think the prices are already reflecting that. But even when you do see these things and it's expected, when it actually does happen, you still see another pop. So if Tiger comes back, certainly the demand will pop even more and prices would likely pop even more as well. - Incredible how little people are talking about the other typically major sporting event this week, which is, of course, opening day in Major League Baseball. That is this week, and it's all about Tiger Woods and March Madness. What type of demand are you seeing for baseball tickets? And how does it compare historically? BRETT GOLDBERG: I think they did a great job salvaging the season. If this dragged on for a couple of weeks more, you really start to have a bad taste in the fans' mouth. We're not seeing that. We're seeing the same type of demand that we were expecting pre all the strikes and thinking that it was going to come out early. So opening week always high demand for these games, and then April's a slow start really until June when the season kicks off. But there is pent up demand from COVID at this point, and we think this will be one of the strongest MLB seasons we've seen in a long time. - We can't wait to get back outside amongst our friends. Brett Goldberg, TickPick co-founder and Co-CEO, good to see you, sir. Enjoy the game tonight. Thank you.