Following is an excerpt of a communication Horse Racing Business received from the ticket search engine SeatGeek pertaining to 2012 Kentucky Derby ticket prices.
“With the Kentucky Derby only days away, we wanted to share with you some research that SeatGeek has conducted on secondary market ticket prices for the race this weekend, as we’ve seen some interesting trends that point towards it being one of the toughest sports tickets in the country.
Tickets for the 2012 Kentucky Derby in Louisville are extremely hot: they are currently going for an average price of $446 on secondary markets.
One of the most interesting things we’ve seen in examining secondary ticket market prices for the Kentucky Derby is the premium that fans pay in order to sit near the finish line. We looked at average prices for tickets at Churchill Downs on a section-by-section basis and found that the average grandstand seat between the 3/16th pole and the 1/8th pole cost $479 on average. As you shift to seats from the 1/8th pole to the 1/16th pole, the average price goes up to $515. Moving to seats from the 1/16th pole to the finish line, average prices skyrocket to $1,044. The highest price premium, however, goes for seats past the finish line, as those are selling for $1,250 on secondary markets.
The Kentucky Derby’s current average ticket price makes it one of the most in-demand events across the country this month. It ranks behind only the Mayweather-Cotto boxing match this Friday ($816) and a pair of concerts by boy band sensation One Direction at NYC’s Beacon Theatre on May 26 ($573 and $533).
Since the beginning of the year, only 23 events have been more expensive than the Kentucky Derby. For context as to some of the top events on that list, Super Bowl XLVI is number one with an average ticket price of $2,991. Sandwiching the Kentucky Derby in terms of the most expensive tickets of 2012 so far are the NCAA Tournament strip at the Rose Garden in Portland ($452) and the Maryland vs. Duke game at Cameron Indoor Stadium ($438).
Out of Louisville’s top attractions over the past year, the 2012 Kentucky Derby is most expensive. Only the 2012 NCAA Tournament games in Louisville come close. The all-session ticket for those games cost $420 on average.
Reprinted with permission.
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