Tickets for Saturday night’s Houston Rockets home game against LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers are selling at record levels, according to data from ticket reseller SeatGeek.
It’s the only visit to Toyota Center this season from the Lakers, which probably contributes to the heightened demand, along with the Saturday primetime slot. In most seasons, the Lakers make two visits to Houston.
Between James, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook, the game features three former league MVPs. Harden, James, and Davis are each considered MVP candidates this year, and including Westbrook, all of the future Hall of Famers seem likely to be in the 2020 All-Star Game.
In addition to star power, the Lakers (33-7) also lead the Western Conference in record, with Hosuton (26-12) trying to chase them down.
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According to SeatGeek, the average resale price as of Tuesday morning was $320 per ticket — up 156% from the average resale price of a ticket to a regular-season Rockets game. Including fees, the cheapest ticket (or get-in price) as of Tuesday was $233, with average prices having increased by 12% just within the past week alone.
The wildest part, to me, is that the average resale price has actually gone UP by another 12% within the past week.
Usually, prices come down some (due to sellers being more motivated to move inventory) when you get into the last couple weeks. Not this time.
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) January 14, 2020
Per SeatGeek, Saturday is the most in-demand Rockets regular season home game since they began tracking the secondary market in 2010. Considering the Rockets did not make the playoffs that season, it would seem to be a safe bet that the streak extends longer than that.
According to their data, the top three regular-season home games since 2010 by average secondary market prices are:
- Los Angeles Lakers at Houston Rockets (Jan. 18, 2020): $320
- Miami Heat at Houston Rockets (March 4, 2014): $287
- Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets (March 13, 2019): $278
Within the 2019-20 season, the average price to attend the Lakers-Rockets showdown is more than double the next-most popular games:
- Los Angeles Lakers at Houston Rockets (Jan. 18, 2020): $320
- Brooklyn Nets at Houston Rockets (Dec. 28, 2019): $153
- Los Angeles Clippers at Houston Rockets (March 5, 2020): $146
It remains to be seen if the game itself will prove worthy of the lofty investment levels from ticket buyers. A year ago, in the NBA’s same prestigious ABC primetime slot on a Saturday night in mid-January, the Rockets topped the Lakers in overtime, 138-134.
James did not play due to injury, but it still proved worthy of the hype to fans and TV interests — with Eric Gordon sinking a 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation to tie the game, capping a frenzied comeback by the home team. Houston went on to win, led by Harden’s 48 points.
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