Ticket prices for Raptors finals hit $60K — and fans aren’t amused

It might be fair to say that Canadian basketball fans want to be present when the Toronto Raptors play in their first NBA finals. And the ideal spot would probably be in the courtside area where Drake sits.

But it will take more than luck to get a seat inside Scotiabank Arena on Thursday to watch the Raptors play the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors in Game 1.

It will also take a lot of cold hard cash.

The official ticketing partner of the NBA — Ticketmaster — said on its website, that tickets to Thursday’s game go on sale to the public at 6 p.m. Monday. The company would not reveal its prices before the official sale.

CBC has canvassed some popular ticket reselling websites to see what prices are like for Thursday’s game.

While standard NBA playoff tickets usually cost between $100 and $1,200, these prices have seen huge increases for the finals.

StubHub is selling tickets under three categories: Lowest Price, Best Value, and Best Seats.

Its lowest-priced tickets — $883.19 — are sold out.

StubHub’s Best Value tickets range from $8,832 each for two tickets for Row B Courtside West, to $10,889 each for two tickets for Row B Courtside North.

Under its Best Seats category, a cool $60,487 can fetch you two tickets for Courtside East, Row A.

SeatGeek’s lowest published price is $1,113 each for one to eight tickets in Section 312 – Row 17, an upper deck corner.

Their highest published price is two tickets in Section 108 – Row 1 at a whopping $13,174 each.

The site also offers packages for $1,478, $2,957 each and $4,300 each. Packages include a minimum of two tickets and a maximum of eight.

Its second highest published price is $11,696 each for two tickets to be seated at Courtside North – Row B.

Fans not amused by high prices

Raptors fans like Darren Bondy, who said he has been waiting his whole life for this team to make the finals, are not amused by the high ticket prices.

“Now I’d have to sell my house to afford tickets,” Bondy said on Twitter.

For Shirley Mak, it’s simply “heartbreaking.”

Here’s a glimpse at how fans have been reacting to the ticket prices.