Suns have highest jump in secondary market ticket sales since 2019-20 season

The Phoenix Suns have the highest price jump among NBA teams in ticket sales on secondary markets since the 2019-20 season, according to statistics obtained by ticketIQ.

Phoenix, which advanced to its first NBA Finals since 1992-93 last season, had a price jump increase of 151 percent, which was a significant difference over the next-closest team (the Charlotte Hornets at 122 percent). The Suns were one of nine teams — the Hornets, Atlanta Hawks, Bucks, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers also made the cut — to have its secondary market average price increase 50 percent or more from 2019-20.

According to the study, the average price of NBA tickets for the 2021 season is $211, which is 37 percent higher than the 2019-20 season. Demand is reportedly at a record-high after the 2020-21 season, when the league was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and several teams had no fans in attendance for most or all of the season.

Since 2011-12, NBA ticket prices on the secondary market are up 69 percent, as ticketIQ reported the average price across the league was $125 that season.

During their 2021 playoff run, the Suns’ home crowd was widely recognized for its high attendance and impact. Phoenix went 8-3 at the newly-named Footprint Center during its run to the NBA Finals, with an attendance high of 16,664 for its fifth game of its Western Conference Finals series against the Los Angeles Clippers on June 28.

“I had to get myself under control emotionally because I hadn’t been in that environment in a long time, and it certainly helped us tonight to have our fans, as crazy as Suns Nation is, going nuts like that for our guys,” Suns coach Monty Williams said after the team’s Game 1 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. “It was pretty cool to be involved in that.

Last season, the Suns gradually expanded capacity from zero fans at the beginning of the season to 8,359 in their final home game, according to Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic. Phoenix had 16,074 fans in attendance for its season opener against the Denver Nuggets last Wednesday, which was 89 percent full of its capacity of 18,055 fans.