With Game 1 of the NBA Finals fast approaching, ticket prices are rising fast, as well.
"We are expecting to see demand for every game to increase as we get closer," Adam Budelli of StubHub said. "Ticket prices are a little high, but certainly they are moving off the shelf and that is something we expect to see with two large fan bases."
Inside the Celtics' team store at the TD Garden, new NBA Finals merchandise arriving Wednesday.
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"Literally showing you stuff we just took out of the box," said Lauma Cerlins, the store's retail director. "Everything is coming in today because of the holiday weekend, they couldn't print on Monday because of the holiday weekend, so we are literally getting everything today."
Cerlins says heavy Celtics necklaces are the hottest items of the postseason.
"Very excited, very excited, it has been a long time since we have been in the Finals, so it is fun," Cerlins said.
"Everyone right now is so excited about being here in San Francisco," said Celtics great and broadcaster Cedric Maxwell.
Maxwell said the team got quite the welcome after landing in San Francisco, being escorted by police to the team hotel.
"It was like we were the president coming through, people were kind of lined up on the street, some people realized we were the Celtics, gave us the middle finger salute," Maxwell said. "There is a lot more hype around it."
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All that hype is hyping ticket prices, too.
StubHub says the average price for Game 1 is around $1,500. StubHub also says 71% of fans buying tickets have California addresses, and 3% have Massachusetts addresses.
As for Game 3, the first game in Boston, StubHub says the average price is just under $2,000.
"Demand is very strong right now," Patrick Higgins of Higs Tickets on Causeway said. "Over the moon, we waited a lot of years here, it has been a struggle for everyone obviously with the pandemic, and everything else, it is just really exciting to have the Celtics back in the Finals."
