The sale of tickets for the most attractive games of the World Baseball Classic is progressing at an accelerated pace, to the extent that some of them, such as the quarterfinals, semifinals and final in Miami, have already sold out their official box office and limited the offer to the resale market. with the consequent rise in prices.
El Clásico will take place from Wednesday, March 8 to Tuesday, March 21 with initial rounds in Miami, Florida; Scottsdale and Phoenix in Arizona; Osaka and Tokyo in Japan; and Taichung in Taiwan. Teams like the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Puerto Rico will play in Florida, while Arizona will host teams like the United States and Mexico.
Among those mentioned, they bring together star players and confirmed participation of the caliber of Mike Trout (USA), Francisco Lindor (PR) and Manny Machado (RD), which validates the interest and consequent high cost of the tickets.
The event is owned by Major League Baseball, which handles ticket sales on a staggered basis up to the secondary resales markup.
As an example, the resales company StubHub, which is accessed directly online from the official MLB.com, offers tickets for the final starting at $133 on Friday afternoon. The one with the best location, best services and consequently the highest price is $5,535.
The semifinals, at the moment, carry an even greater range of prices: tickets for the first semifinal -on Sunday- range between $62 and $6,030 and the second, Monday, $64 and $5,850.
Others from earlier rounds but with defined rivals also reflect rising prices.
For example, the initial round match between Puerto Rico – current runner-up in the tournament – and the Dominican Republic – the country with the largest Hispanic presence in the Major Leagues – to be played on March 15 carries entry prices from $213 to $4,005.
In Arizona, the match between Mexico and the United States, on Sunday, March 12, can be seen in person with tickets whose price ranges from $40 to $982.
The online ticket resale page warns that, in many cases, the sale proceeds at an accelerated rate, which implies that prices are expected to rise as the date of the event approaches; or in more extreme cases, a full house and unavailability of tickets – unless a resale market is used through third parties.