Sports

Oakland tops Cleveland by $500 in the average cost of NBA finals tickets

NBA Finals ticket prices leap
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NBA Finals ticket prices leap

If you want to be a part of NBA history, you might want to do it in Cleveland.

The average ticket price for this year's NBA finals rematch between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors is $1,200 at Quicken Loans Arena in C-Town and $1,700 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, according to live-event ticket search engine TiqIQ.

For both markets, the cheapest ticket runs about $500.

While those figures might seem steep, the average cost to see a game in Cleveland is actually down $200 from last year's Cavaliers-Warriors match-up, Jesse Lawrence, TiqIQ founder and CEO, told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Friday.


LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers (right) and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors.
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Bay-Area fans will get no such discount. The average price for an Oakland game is up about $200 from last year, Lawrence said.

The price differential could give Californians a chance to see lightning strike twice for the Warriors, who took the championship in game six at Quicken Loans Arena last year.

"If there's an opportunity to see a clinching game in Cleveland, certainly that's a possibility. You might want to save your dollars if you're a Warriors fan and you missed it last year," Lawrence said.

The Warriors took the first game on Thursday, and ticket prices in Cleveland could fall if Steph Curry and company keep on winning, he said.