Here’s How Much Tickets to the NBA Finals Cost

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Going to the NBA Finals isn’t cheap. Find out how much tickets to the NBA Finals cost and the factors that affect prices the most. 

The 2023 NBA Finals will start on June 1 and could last until June 18, if the series reaches a Game 7. If you’re a basketball fan, you’ve probably dreamed about what it would be like to go to a game.

Even though we’re still a few weeks away and the matchup isn’t set, there are already NBA Finals tickets for sale. You can buy tickets to potential home games for any team that’s still in contention. If you buy an NBA Finals ticket for a team that later gets eliminated, you’ll receive a refund. Based on what’s currently available, we can get an idea of what ticket prices will be like.

How much do tickets to the NBA Finals cost?

Tickets to the 2023 NBA Finals start at $532 to $2,888 for upper level seats, depending on the team, according to prices from SeatGeek. Lower level seats range from $1,000 to $5,000 or more, once again depending on the team. The most expensive seats cost more than $25,000.

Those prices are before taxes and fees, which generally add about 30%. With taxes and fees, you can expect to pay at least $700 to $1,200 per ticket for most teams.

While there are many factors that affect NBA Finals ticket prices, the most important are:

The teams that are playingThe game you go toThe seats you choose

Prices are much higher for popular teams and marquee matchups. The most expensive team to see in the NBA Finals, by far, is the New York Knicks. Ticket prices at Madison Garden start at $2,888 before taxes and fees. The Los Angeles Lakers are the next most expensive, with ticket prices starting at $1,078 before taxes and fees.

The cheapest NBA Finals tickets currently available would be at the Miami Heat, starting at $532 before taxes and fees. The Heat would be beating some long odds if they went that far, as only one No. 8 seed has reached the NBA Finals before. But with how well they’re playing, they certainly have a good shot.

Ticket prices also tend to increase as the series goes on. Game 4 usually has higher prices than the first three, and if they’re necessary, Games 5, 6, and 7 all get even more expensive. After all, the pressure and importance of each game ratchets up deeper into the series. And everything from Game 4 on is a potential series-clinching game, so there’s the possibility of seeing the trophy presentation.

How to make an NBA Finals dream into a reality

It’s expensive to go to the NBA Finals, but if it’s a dream of yours, you could make it happen. You’ll just need to make it a personal finance priority, since the main obstacle is the cost.

With any type of big expense, the best-case scenario is that you can afford to pay in full. That’s probably unrealistic if you’re starting from $0 and you want to go to this year’s NBA Finals. But if there’s no rush, you could set up a high-yield savings account that’s specifically for NBA Finals tickets. If you start saving $250 every month, to give an example, you’d have $3,000 (plus the interest earned) saved for tickets by this time next year.

What if you don’t have enough saved for tickets, but your favorite team makes it and you really want to cheer them on? You could consider borrowing money. It’s normally not recommended to borrow money for things you don’t need, but with a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it could be worth making an exception.

If you decide to borrow money, there are a couple of good options:

0% APR credit cards: This type of credit card has a 0% APR on purchases for an intro period, and the best ones offer intro periods of 12 months or longer. So, if you pay off the balance within the intro period, there are no interest charges.Personal loans: This type of loan can be used for anything you want. You’ll have a fixed interest rate, term, and payment amount.

Look into 0% APR credit cards first, since you could avoid interest charges entirely with one of these. Personal loans are nice because they have predictable payment amounts, but nothing beats borrowing money interest-free.

To be clear, you should definitely give it some thought before you borrow money to go to the NBA Finals. It’s better if you can save up for tickets, and you could also consider going to a regular season game instead to keep costs down. If you do decide to borrow money, whether through a 0% APR card or a loan, make sure to pay it back as quickly as possible.

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