Ticket prices soaring for Raptors' visit to Vancouver this weekend
Maybe Vancouver really is ready for the NBA to return.
The Toronto Raptors are coming to Vancouver to face the LA Clippers in a preseason game on Saturday as part of the NBA Canada Games. It will be the seventh time the Raptors have played at Rogers Arena since the Vancouver Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2001.
Returning Raptor Kawhi Leonard is unlikely to take the court against his former team, but that’s not stopping Vancouver basketball fans from buying up every ticket available.
The game is virtually sold out, with resale prices soaring above $200 on Ticketmaster.
That’s wildly expensive for a preseason game, but also shows the appetite for NBA in Vancouver.
A sold-out Rogers Arena at last year’s Toronto Raptors preseason game. (Mary Kessenich/Offside)
The cheapest resale tickets we spotted were $211.75 for seats in the corner of the upper bowl.
For fans with money to burn, however, there are a few courtside seats available for the price of $3,146 per ticket.
Ticketmaster
Similar seats cost $1,506.65 for standard admission, so resale tickets are going for twice face value.
By way of comparison, resale tickets for the Raptors’ preseason game in Toronto against the New York Knicks on Oct. 13 range from $67.43 to $2,193.31.
The Raptors have also released limited-edition merch for the stop in Vancouver.
They will be giving away hats and trail mix on Oct. 9 on the seawall, while t-shirts will be available at Rogers Arena on game day.
Vancouver fans have repeatedly shown up for NBA preseason games, with over 18,000 fans at each of the last seven Raptors games. Fans have shown up early in droves at player entrances looking for autographs, photos, or just a chance to see their favourite players, and have been deafeningly loud.
Brandon Ingram, then with the Raptors and now with the Clippers, signs autographs at Rogers Arena (Mary Kessenich/Offside)
“We feel a lot of love. We feel that the whole city is behind the team,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković after last year’s game. “We were in the locker room before the start of the game […] it was already so loud inside [the arena], and so many fans inside.”
While Vancouver basketball fans have shown up to support the Raptors, the odds are against the NBA bringing a team back to the city. The price tag for an NBA team has gone far beyond the $125 million that Arthur Griffiths paid to start up the Grizzlies.
According to Forbes, the least valuable NBA franchise — ironically the Memphis Grizzlies — is worth $3.5 billion.
An expansion franchise would be even more expensive, with Las Vegas being the next target for expansion. According to The Athletic, the expansion fee for Las Vegas will be $8.5 to $9 billion — combined with the cost of a new arena, the total price tag will be at least $12 billion.
That would require selling a lot of courtside seats and trail mix.