The stage is nearly set for the 2015 League Championship Series. With the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals each punching their ticket to the ALCS Wednesday night and the Chicago Cubs waiting for the outcome of Thursday’s Los Angeles Dodgers vs New York Mets game, there has been a massive flair for the dramatic in this year’s postseason.
The secondary ticket market is taking notice of the hype surrounding both upcoming series as well. According to TiqIQ.com, the Cubs will host the most expensive LCS games since at least 2010, with all three possible games at Wrigley Field averaging above $1,100. Should the Mets, who have had their own share of recent postseason woes, advance to face the Cubs, the 2015 NLCS has the potential to be the highest-priced LCS since the turn of the decade.
While the Blue Jays and Royals won’t even be in the same stratosphere in terms of secondary market ticket demand, both are still among the Top 10 most expensive LCS teams since 2010. The average price for Blue Jays tickets on TiqIQ across all three possible games at Rogers Centre is $527.75, which serves as the sixth most expensive LCS in the last six seasons. The Royals trail directly behind with a $492.55 average, marking a 21.9% increase from their 2014 ALCS average of $403.92.
Traveling arrangements to Kansas City are now being made for Game 1 Saturday. Hotels in Kansas City on Hipmunk are going for as low as $59 per night while four-star hotels can be found starting at $254 per night. If looking through Airbnb, places to stay in the KC area begin at $200 per night.
Hotel accommodations will be pricier in Chicago, however. The cheapest hotel in downtown Chicago on Hipmunk goes for $277 per night. Traveling in style will cost a pretty penny as five-star hotels start at $425 per night. Participating hosts on Airbnb are listing the cheapest rentals for $207 per night.
With the Cubs becoming the only team to exceed the $1,000 average on the secondary market for their LCS games at Wrigley Field, it appears that the Chicago faithful are finally buying into the team’s chances of breaking the 70-year Curse of the Billy Goat this season. The Cubbies may also fulfill the Fall Classic prophecy set in the blockbuster 1989 movie, Back to the Future II, where they claim the 2015 World Series as Marty McFly travels into the future.
New York looks to enter their first NLCS since 2006. Equipped with a bountiful group of young arms and an offense led by trade deadline acquisition Yoenis Cespedes the Mets will need to triumph over NL Cy Young Award candidate Zack Greinke in Los Angeles tonight. Both the Blue Jays and Royals fought back from 2-1 series deficits in the ALDS to cement their trip to the penultimate round of the postseason.