Spurs, Pacers Offer Great Value for NBA Tickets

With a good amount of star power, a Finals run last season, and as one of the most successful modern teams, they bring a lot to the table. The Pacers come in second place, as they have even cheaper tickets, and nearly equal interestingness.
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We're in the early stage of another NBA Season and so far it is shaping up to be as interesting and entertaining as ever. Last year's champs, the Miami Heat, will be aiming to complete the trifecta, winning three consecutive championships. The "old," "boring" San Antonio Spurs will continue their quest for a fifth championship trophy. The young gun Houston Rockets will try to prove their place in the league, with the new addition of Dwight Howard.

Attending and NBA game can be expensive, what with the price of tickets, concessions, parking and other extraneous costs. Different teams bring different things to the table, so it stands to reason that different teams demand a different average ticket price. I took a closer look at the average ticket price of every team, which might help frugal NBA fans find the most affordable game to attend.

Without further ado, my analysis of our NBA ticket database. First, let's take a look at the average price of tickets for each individual team:

2013-11-12-EveryTeamsAverage.png

Unsurprisingly, the back-to-back reigning champs from Miami demand the highest average ticket price of any team in the league. The average price of tickets to see the Heat play a game this year is nearly $127 more than the average price of tickets throughout the NBA.

At the bottom of the list are the Washington Wizards, who ended last season near the bottom of the pack. Often times, the best bet for fans of top-dollar teams is to go to a game against teams like the Wizards or the Timberwolves.

The other way of looking at a team's average ticket prices is to factor in only their home games. That information is show below.

2013-11-12-TeamHomeGameAverage.png

At more than $130 above the league average Knicks make their annual appearance at the "Most Expensive Tickets" perch. The Knicks notoriously have the most expensive tickets in the NBA every year whether they are successful at the time or not. Much of this can be attributed to the fact the the Knicks' home court is Madison Square Garden. The Garden is probably the most famous event venue on the planet and has a ton of history. There's nothing quite like watching a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden.

The Bucks, who fall at the opposite end of the spectrum, play in the coma-inducing BMO Bradley Center. The only remarkable thing about the Milwaukee stadium is how unremarkable it is.

While the Wizards and Bucks tussle over the least expensive average ticket prices, there are other teams that I believe offer more bang for you buck. Using an incredibly unscientific method to determine how interesting a team is to see live, I determined which teams offer the best value in the NBA. Factors included in my calculation were things like: last season's total wins, whether or not the team made the playoffs, how far they went into the playoffs, star power, and intangibles like a team's culture or the arena's atmosphere. The lower the value rating, the more bang for your buck you get from that team:

2013-11-12-ValueRatings.png

In this category, there is little room for argument. The best value in the league comes from the elite teams. It should come as no surprise that San Antonio Spurs tickets offer the best value. The Spurs fall in the bottom 10 of the league when it comes to average ticket price, but they rank at a solid second place on my "interestingness" scale. With a good amount of star power, a Finals run last season, and as one of the most successful modern teams, they bring a lot to the table.

The Pacers come in second place, as they have even cheaper tickets, and nearly equal interestingness. One could argue that with their hot start to this season, the Pacers have the upper hand on the Spurs. Even the Heat, who demand the highest ticket price in the league, do well in the value category, as they boast two consecutive championships and the highest-rated star power in the league.

The Bobcats on the other hand, are one of the league's most uninteresting teams, yet they demand an average price that outpaces almost 10 of last year's playoff teams. Needless to say, the price you pay to see a Bobcats game is not quite worth what you get in return. Perhaps they will turn things around in the near future.

So there you have it. My look at the different average ticket prices in the NBA. I hope you enjoyed it! Tweet me or comment if you have any questions. Happy ticket-finding!

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