$3300 A POP FOR COURTSIDE SEATS!!!

[Big Money]

one the better known ticket agencys in socal is predicting that if a LA-Boston series is next, tickets for courtside could hit $25,000.


Last night I got seats from my scalper friend since he was too scared to sell outside Staples since it was filled with a lot of undercover officers (they arrested several scalpers). Scalpers had to sell 3-4 blocks away.

[kdot99]

odds are corporations and movie studios buy them and give them as perks to clients/customers/VIP's

[LAKESHOW]

the corporations and movie studios usually take the luxury boxes above. not always. but usually they take the large boxes and stack them with execs.

[Cevap]

That's outrageous! I went to the Staples Center last season to see Dallas take on LA. The season ticket holder was unable to attend the game and he sold me his second row seat for $100.

$3 grand for a playoff seat doesn't blow my mind but it certainly is something I would never pay for even if I was a multi millionaire.

depends what kinda millionaire you are. If you're a trust fund baby then no, but a lot in business (especially entertainment) has to do with the image you have so paying thousands for tickets just to be seen might be a worthwhile investment just so that other people can see you at the game and think of you as a "big shot"...

[JellosJigglin]

Those seats are reserved for filming scenes from Entourage. Ari Gold has them on lock.

[snaquille oatmeal]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakerscool18-2008may18,0,3455107.story?page=3

On most nights, the Lakers put aside several hundred of the arena's 18,997 seats for corporate sponsors, broadcast partners, the visiting team and VIPs. Not all the stars need help getting inside. Nicholson and Cannon, among others, have held season tickets since the Forum days. Many of the major studios, record companies and talent agencies also keep season seats on hand. The house seats are distributed by several well-placed team executives. Save for a few exceptions, VIPs must pay face value, which ranges as high as $3,000 for the second round of the playoffs. Harris handles about 70 seats in the best locations, as well as parking passes and the gold tickets that grant halftime access to the Wachovia Chairman's Room, a small, exclusive bar beneath the stands. With space for fewer than 100 people, "the Room" has always been the arena's ultimate status symbol. "There are people who care more about this," Harris said, holding up a gold ticket, "than where they are actually going to sit for the game."

Tobey Maguire, star of the "Spider-Man" movies, appreciates the symbiosis. Sitting behind the basket Wednesday, he said, "I just come to the games because I'm a fan, but I do think there's an element of entertainment and show." Harris refers to the Hollywood-sports connection as a "marriage that works." But, like any marriage, it can have rough spots. Some celebrities and agents think they can call on game day to procure courtside seats. "Occasionally you just get a gigantic disconnect and you get a call from a publicist or someone who says that so-and-so is willing to come to a Laker game and willing to sit down by Jack . . . and I have to break the news that, uh, it really doesn't work that way."

Outlandish requests are not limited to tickets. "We got a request from a TV sitcom star," Harris recalled. "Her publicist calls up and says she wants to come to a game. And, by the way, could you have Shaq and Kobe come by her seats at halftime to say hello?" A publicist for several actors in "High School Musical" recently called for tickets to a playoff game -- in Utah. Before Wednesday's game, Harris said an entertainer whom he declined to identify -- "I wouldn't call him mainstream" -- tried to get tickets for free, then haggled over the price. The entertainer finally agreed to buy cheaper seats. Fifteen minutes later, he called back to cancel the sale. "Probably got a better deal somewhere else," Harris said.

[Cevap]

hahaha, I bet it was Jennifer Aniston who wanted Shaq and Kobe to say hi...She looks stupid like that.

[NDaATL]

Inflation is much higher in LA than anywhere else. An 1800 square foot house in LA will cost $700k+, possibly more. Most other places in the USA that house would be under 200k. Everything out there is more expensive, thus 3000 to them is less than it would be for us. Even local jobs and businesses charge much more for average things than they do in other places so it all equals out. I'm not saying the 3000 still isn't expensive, but it's not as bad as it looks from the casual eye.

[Aragorn]

If I had the money, you bet! I wouldn't buy courtside seats all the time, but it would be cool to have a courtside seat to watch Game 1 between the Spurs and Lakers.

[hermes]

Inflation is much higher in LA than anywhere else. An 1800 square foot house in LA will cost $700k+, possibly more. Most other places in the USA that house would be under 200k. Everything out there is more expensive, thus 3000 to them is less than it would be for us. Even local jobs and businesses charge much more for average things than they do in other places so it all equals out. I'm not saying the 3000 still isn't expensive, but it's not as bad as it looks from the casual eye.

yep, the prices are that high because people will pay for them

[WEFFPIM]

For the big Hollywood names, this is roughly the equivalent of buying a $30 ticket for us common folk.

[LAKESHOW]

i think the star was back in the day, gary coleman. and the ticket guy said "what you talkin bout gary"

[snaquille oatmeal]

hahaha, I bet it was Jennifer Aniston who wanted Shaq and Kobe to say hi...She looks stupid like that.

I am leaning more towards Nicole ritchy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn4lhTPtpUU

[NYKBaller]

supply and deman baby!

[Mamba Venom]

Man I know I sound LAME

Heres how I afford my courtside Laker seat.

Attend the preseason games out of town... Vegas, San Dieago or the Valley and get a courtside tic for $200. Its worth the experience. I've seen some killer games and some awful ones.

The cool thing is after 1 game you know what its like to sit court side and can imagine it during the finals when I CANT afford the expensive tic.

I got to hear everything in Phil Jacksons huddle and that was REALLY cool. I wore a jersey and sat next to the Lakers bench and imagined I was on the team... PLease dont reply

[Teen Girl Squad]

Thats cool.

A local ticket broker in LA (Barry of barrystickets.com) stated in an interview that if the Lakers and Celtics meet up, and LA has a chance to close out at home that the courtside seats could go for $25,000.00 a seat.

[Birth of the Cool]

Ticket Prices these days are obscene.

I stopped paying full price to go to games a few years ago because I realized spending close to $ 200.00 / ticket for sideprime tickets just wasn't worth the entertainment provided and I know many middle-class hoops fans who feel the same way. (This is in Toronto where Raptors continue to increase ticket prices yearly).

The only time I go these days is when friends or families have business connections to get free or heavily discounted tickets. More & more the crowds will become "suits" who are there mainly because their corporation has tickets, people who want to be "seen", and the middle class hoops fans especially families will be relegated to nose bleeds (300 section or higher) or watching on TV.

With the advent of plasma TV and High Definition more people are going to decide its better just to watch in the comfort of your own home. No $$ for tickets, no $$ for overpriced concession food, no $$ for parking, no $$ for gas going to & from game, no hassle for parking, etc.

Also is this economy more & more people will decide watching a great concert for $25-50 or whatever alternative entertainment will be more memorable than overpriced NBA game.