With LeBron James set to break the NBA’s all-time record this week, fans eager to see the Los Angeles Laker star make sports history in person will have to shell out the big bucks.
Lower-tier seats for Tuesday’s game in Los Angeles at the Crypto.com Arena against the Oklahoma City Thunder start at $1,067 apiece, according to Vivid Seats. Floor seats from Ticketmaster cost between $415 and $1,000. The average ticket price for a Lakers game has jumped 211% since the start of the season, Vivid Seats told CBS MoneyWatch.
A few factors are pushing prices up, said Patrick Rishe, professor of sports business at Washington University in St. Louis. First, James is likely to break the Lakers home record, and to add to the drama, the player he is about to surpass is fellow Laker legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Second, Southern California is home to many high-income people who can afford a thousand-dollar bill, which is also driving up demand, Rishe said. “People want to say they were there,” he said. “People just like to be present when they see the story, especially when you’re talking about a record that you’ll probably never see again in our lifetime.”
James’ march to history has captivated fans of all sports. The last time anyone broke an NBA record was in December 2021, when Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry became the all-time leading three-pointer.
James needs to score at least 36 points to break Jabbar’s league record of 38,387, set in 1989. Abdul-Jabbar is expected to be there when James eclipses his record, according to CBSSports.com.
The NBA has already changed its national television schedule for Tuesday, rearranging things to place the Lakers-Thunder game in the second slot of the usual TNT doubleheader for the night. Commissioner Adam Silver said the league wanted to make sure it got as many eyeballs as possible during the record breaking moment. Silver also said the league will honor James once he passes Abdul-Jabbar with a larger-scale celebration at All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City later this month.
As with any live event, Lakers tickets this week are more expensive as seats get closer to the action. Two tickets behind the hoops for Tuesday’s game are priced at Vivid Seats at $69,162 each, while another pair of tickets nine rows back are priced at $42,845.
Steve Inman, a social media manager, already has a seat for Tuesday’s game despite living on the other side of the country. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resident told CBS MoneyWatch he plans to attend with his uncle, who is a season ticket holder for the Lakers.
“I don’t believe anyone will ever break their record,” Inman, 30, said of James’ exploits. “For the rest of our lives, he will have this record. I will be able to witness it and share it with my family, my future children and their children forever.”
If James doesn’t break the record on Tuesday, his next opportunity will come on Feb. 9 when the Lakers host the Milwaukee Bucks. Prices for those tickets rose from $474 in October to $2,595 on Tuesday, a 447% increase, according to Vivid Seats. And two particularly preferred seats cost nearly $107,000.
“Fans believe LeBron is unlikely to score 36 points against the Thunder and is more likely to break the record against the Bucks,” the company told CBS MoneyWatch.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
