CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MARCH 29: Elliot Cadeau #3, Yaxel Lendeborg #23, and Roddy Gayle Jr. #11 of the Michigan Wolverines react against the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at the United Center on March 29, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
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Ticket demand for the men’s Final Four semifinals is up nearly 45% than at the same point last year, according to secondary ticketing platform SeatGeek.
Chris Leyden, Senior Director, Marketing at SeatGeek, tells me that he only expects that demand to accelerate as fans complete their plans ahead of Saturday’s matchups between No. 2 UConn and No. 3 Illinois, followed by No. 1 seeds Michigan and Arizona, which last won the NCAA Championship in 1997.
“The Final Four is always one of the most electric weekends in college sports, and this year’s matchup in Indianapolis is already generating extraordinary demand,” says Leyden. “With the game landing in the heart of Big Ten country, 40% of buyers on SeatGeek are coming from Illinois followed by host state Indiana at 10% and Michigan at 7%. Illini fans have long been a sleeping giant in college basketball — one of the biggest fan bases in the country — and now that they’re back on the Final Four stage for the first time in 21 years, they’re making the trip in force.”
More Information On Men’s Final Four Ticket Prices
As of Tuesday, the average resale price on SeatGeek was currently above $1,000, compared with $717 in 2025. The get-in price, or better known as the listed cost for the cheapest available ticket for Saturday’s two games, was around $675 as of early Wednesday morning.
Who Is Purchasing Tickets For The Final Four?
Brett Goldberg, Co-CEO at TickPick, another sports ticketing marketplace, tells me that the Illinois and Arizona fan bases accounted for almost 40% of all purchases on the platform since the Final Four matchups were finalized this past Sunday.
“Historically, long droughts act as catalysts for heightened demand across sports,” says Goldberg. “Last year’s longest drought was only 11 years, and it ranked as the fifth-most expensive Final Four on record. This year mirrors 2024, which featured two teams with 40-year droughts and saw prices hit record highs. If Illinois and Arizona ultimately meet in the final, it’s possible these fan bases drive the championship to be one of the hottest March Madness tickets on record.”
On TickPick, Texas, Indiana, and Michigan rounded out the top five states where buyers purchased the most tickets for the Final Four semifinals, which features the Illini and Wolverines narrowly favored by 2.5 points and 1.5 points, respectively, per the latest odds at the FanDuel Sportsbook.
As of Tuesday, the average purchase price on TickPick for a Final Four semifinal ticket was $711, making it currently the highest semifinal on record for the ticketing platform. Before the start of the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament, the average purchase price was $624.
Meanwhile, the most expensive purchase on TickPick for the Final Four were three tickets in Section 114, Row T of Lucas Oil Stadium for $7,859 a ticket (a total of $23,576).