Game 3 of the NBA Finals is happening tonight right here in the Cleveland. Tickets to the game are always a hot commodity, so hot that criminals will try to scam you. We’re breaking down legit costs for the cheapest seats and what Cleveland police are warning you about tickets this year.
"We back to the NBA Finals, baby! Go Cavs!" yelled a bunch of fans about 10 days ago when the Cavs beat the Boston Celtics to get into their fourth straight Finals. That excitement of the Finals is here again and there's good news when it comes to game 3 tickets this year.
Our research shows in 2015, the cheapest ticket you could find for Game 3 was $500 after all fees and taxes. In 2016, it was $420 and last year $390.
We added up this year's cheapest seat using the same legitimate ticket websites as we have in the past. Ticketmaster had no seats left. TicketLiquidator and SeatGeek were $311 bucks. StubHub was the cheapest last year, but this year it was offering $302 for one ticket. VividSeats was the cheapest this year among the sites we checked. One ticket was $289. That's $101 cheaper than last year and $211 cheaper than 2015.
But before you get too pumped up to get your tickets, Cleveland Police have a warning.
"We've made a number of arrests in years past,” said Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia from Cleveland police. She said they've seen fake tickets every year especially for the Finals that look very realistic.
"So, there's really no way for us to give you a template to say if it looks this way, it's real. If it looks this way, it's fake.”
Sgt. Ciaccia said when you buy tickets when you meet up with someone or get them off the street, you’re taking big risks. "They're cash transactions and they're between people who don't know each other,” she said. “By the time you find out that ticket's fake, you're probably going to be at the venue."
Sgt. Ciaccia strongly suggests using well-known sites or buy them from the Cavs themselves because the scams can get you for big bucks.
"When you talk about the NBA Finals, it can be a lot of money…We've seen people scammed for over a thousand dollars," she said.
Sgt. Ciaccia reminds you that even though they have made arrests in the past, that doesn't guarantee if you get ripped off they'll be able to track down the crook and get your money back.
