Tickets for both NCAA Final Four men’s basketball games and the championship are about 22 percent cheaper than last year, according to data from TipIQ, a secondary ticket aggregator.

All-session tickets, which can be used to attend both semi-final games and the championship game in Houston, are averaging $1,756.93 each on the secondary market. The secondary market includes ticket sales not from the official NCAA seller, PrimeSport.

Last year, the average ticket price on the secondary market was $2,245.67 each.

The cheapest available tickets on PrimeSport cost $175 as of 7 p.m. on Thursday. Those tickets are for the seats furthest away from the court. The most expensive, for the seats closest to the court, are each $4,675.

Syracuse University offered students $40 tickets for the men’s game against the University of North Carolina on Saturday and for the championship game if the Orange advances.

Venue and fan base size are some of the biggest factors that determine ticket pricing.

Historically, if a venue draws in big crowds, ticket prices go up, said Rodney Paul, a sports economist and professor of sport management in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. If the venue is in close proximity to the schools playing and a large airport, ticket prices also go up, he added, especially on the secondary market after the Final Four is set.

“It’s about how accessible these places are,” Paul said. “That makes a huge difference because interest in buying those tickets drives prices up.”

The only school close to Houston this year is the University of Oklahoma, which Paul said may be contributing to the decline in ticket prices on the secondary market this year.

“Maybe there’s not quite as much demand as there was last year,” he said.

Last year, the Final Four was played in Indianapolis, which is relatively close to some of the teams that played last year: the University of Kentucky, the University of Wisconsin and Michigan State University.

Teams with large, national fan bases that are willing to travel also create an increase in demand, which in turn drives up tickets prices, Paul said. Both UNC and Syracuse have very large and loyal fan bases, he added.

Schools that don’t make it to the Final Four very often — the anomalies — also drive up prices, Paul said, because fans do not know if that school will make it to the Final Four again.

Published on March 31, 2016 at 8:20 pm

Contact Rachel: rsandler@syr.edu