CWS 2024: Fans frustrated with sky-high ticket prices for finals

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Getting into Charles Schwab Field for this weekend’s College World Series finals will cost you.

Just ask Tennessee Volunteers fan Tyler Cooper, who said he paid around $500 dollars for each ticket.

“It’s college baseball, so I guess they can put any price they want, and us Tennessee fans are going to come no matter what,” Cooper said.

Looking at Ticketmaster’s website Friday, prices ranged from around $350 to just under $2,000—and that didn’t include fees.

Some said the key to not paying those prices is buying tickets early.

“I bought them Tuesday morning,” said Texas A&M fan Kaye Whitcomb. “So after we beat Kentucky but before the Wednesday game, I decided to just go ahead and pull the plug because I could see them starting to go up. So I thought, ‘You know what? I can always sell it back.’”

Even then, Whitcomb said she paid around $400 total for her Saturday and Sunday tickets.

However, she agreed with others that she’d like to see prices come down.

“It’s sad because so many people want to make a family experience out of it, and I don’t know how they can do that with prices that high,” she said.

“You’ve got to think about people with kids,” Cooper said. “Baseball’s a beautiful game, and it’s so fun to watch the kids watch it and learn so they can maybe be here someday.”

It doesn’t stop fans from forking over that cash though.

“The problem is people care about this,” said Tennessee fan Gary Wyatt. “They have a vested interest. They’re emotional about being at this event.”

A few fans told 6 News they believe that vested interest plays right into the hands of the secondary market, which buys those tickets and resells them for even higher.

“There’s sales people, they’re entire job is buying up all the tickets that come available to the free market,” Wyatt said. “They buy them up for the lowest-available price, and then they resell them on a massive scale. And it’s a nightmare scenario because they know people are going to go to the games.”

So fans may just keep biting the bullet.

6 News reached out to the NCAA for comment on prices this year compared to previous years. We have not heard back.

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