Cubs-Indians Series tickets won’t come cheap
Asking prices for games in Chicago starting at $6,000
Fans hoping to watch their beloved Cubs play a World Series game for the first time since 1945 may have to tap into their life savings to score seats at Wrigley Field.
Market analysts say this year’s World Series between Chicago and the Cleveland Indians may be the most expensive event in recent sports history.
Tickets are being listed for an average of $6,155 for the Cubs’ first home game Friday and $3,125 for Game 1 of the series Tuesday at Progressive Field in Cleveland on TicketIQ, an event ticket search engine.
“I was not expecting an average asking price in the $6,000 range. It was a surprise even for a person who tracks the market all the time,” Jesse Lawrence, founder and CEO of TicketIQ, said. “From a historical standpoint, it’s totally mind-boggling. I don’t think we’ll see anything like this again.”
Game 3 tickets at Wrigley Field are being sold for an average of $3,000 on StubHub and $3,423 on SeatGeek.
Tickets to games 3, 4 and 5 at Wrigley are listed on TickPick for an average of $10,590 and $3,862 for games 1,2, 6 and 7 in Cleveland.
Cubs officials said “thousands” of tickets will be available via the lottery, though an official number will not be released. More than 1.7 million fans had registered for the lottery as of Oct. 12, said Cubs spokesman Kevin Saghy.
Corey Kluber is set n to pitch the opener for the Indians — he started both games Cleveland played against the Cubs in spring training, giving up one run in eight innings. Cubs manager Joe Maddon hasn’t yet announced his starter.
The Indians will see n how second baseman Jason Kipnis is feeling as he recovers from a sprained left ankle. He was hurt last Wednesday as he celebrated with teammate Francisco Lindor after the final out of the A.L. Championship Series in Toronto. Manager Terry Francona says he expects Kipnis will be OK to play in Game 1.
Cubs slugger Kyle n Schwarber, who is recovering from a knee injury that sidelined him most of the season, might end up on the World Series roster.
“We’re not ruling anything out or anything in at this point, and we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves, either,” president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said.
Schwarber went 0 for 3 with a walk while serving as the designated hitter for the Solar Sox on Saturday night in the Arizona Fall League.
Schwarber hit .333 with a franchise-record five homers in nine playoff games last year, and the Indians had 10 right-handers on their staff for the ALCS.
The Indians are deciding n whether injured starter Danny Salazar can pitch against the Cubs. The AllStar righty hasn’t thrown in a game since Sept. 9 because of forearm tightness but he’s made major progress in the past week.
The Cubs’ clincher n was seen by an average of 9.7 million viewers on Fox Sports 1, the highest total for a League Championship Series since the Giants’ victory over Philadelphia in Game 6 in 2010 (11.6 million).