LeBron James Has Fueled Sixers’ High Ticket Prices

LeBron James has prolonged his longevity more than just by defying Father Time.

Once James joined the Philadelphia 76ers, he remained both an NBA’s ratings draw and a box-office success.

The Sixers are among four NBA teams with a league-leading 34 nationally-televised games along with the NBA’s defending champions (New York Knicks), its NBA Finals opponent (San Antonio Spurs) and his former team (Los Angeles Lakers). Both Sixers’ home and away games have also sparked the highest ticket demand on secondary markets.

“LeBron is one of the few NBA players that has the power to completely change a team's demand overnight for regular-season games,” Max Meyer, SeatGeek’s senior content analyst told me in a written statement. “He did it in 2018, when the Lakers instantly became the NBA's #1 resale draw and captured close to a third of all league resale on SeatGeek the moment the schedule dropped. Philadelphia is following that same script now. Since the release, the Sixers have outsold every team in the league, with opening night at MSG against the reigning champion Knicks clearly the hottest ticket of the season.”

How hot are those tickets between the Sixers and Knicks at Madison Square Garden on opening night? SeatGeek’s resale tickets range from $1,903 (section 212)) to $48,469 (courtside seat), while StubHub’s resale tickets are listed as high as $25,923 (section 10D) and as low as $1,958 (section 208). The tickets for the Sixers’ home game against New York have fared well, too. SeatGeek’s resale tickets range from $304 (Section 219A) to $3,112 (Section 101) while StubHub’s resale tickets are listed as high as $2,024 (section 114) and as low as $346 (section 206). Predictably, the Sixers-Knicks game at MSG are in higher demand since that coincides with the Knicks’ ring night before a partisan crowd in the NBA’s biggest market. But the Sixers-Knicks game at Xfinity Mobile Center has also sparked strong interest amid intrigue on whether the NBA’s new “Super Team” can threaten the NBA’s defending champions.

Ticket demand goes beyond fascination over a possible Eastern Conference Finals preview. Other marquee Sixers games have sparked the most interest in resale markets amid strong interest in both James and Jaylen Brown joining Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe. Shortly after the Boston Celtics surprisingly dealt Brown to the Sixers for Paul George and draft picks, James signed with the Sixers on a two-year, $8 million deal.

“The Sixers are commanding a larger share of schedule-release ticket demand than any team StubHub has tracked in the modern era, roughly double the share the Knicks drew in each of the last three releases,” StubHub spokesperson Jill Gonzalez told me in a written statement.

Not surprising that the Sixers’ home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers sparks the second strongest demand nearly 10 years after James led Cleveland to its first NBA championship in franchise history. SeatGeek’s resale tickets range from $311 (section 207A) to $22,491 (suite), while StubHub’s resale tickets are listed as high as $3,519 (section 215) and as low as $582 (section 222).

Not surprising that the Sixers’ road game against the Lakers on Christmas Day ranks closely, either. This will mark James’ first game against his former team at Crypto.com Arena following his eight seasons there that included success (2020 NBA title, 2023 Western Conference Finals) and shortcomings (two missed playoff appearances, three first-round exits). SeatGeek’s resale tickets range from $481 (section 331) to $17,480 (suite), while StubHub’s resale tickets are listed as high as $13,503 (section 11) and as low as $487 (section 313). The Sixers’ home game against the Lakers on March 4 sparked similar demand. SeatGeek’s resale tickets are listed as high as $3,683 (section 113) and as low as $343 (section 222A), while StubHub’s resale tickets are listed as high as $2,643 (section 106) and as low as $348 (section 208).

The other top Sixers games include a possible NBA Finals preview (vs Spurs on March 21) and Brown’s first road reunion game (at Celtics on Jan. 21). For the Sixers-Spurs game, SeatGeek’s resale tickets range from $275 (section 219 A) to $3,656 (suite) and StubHub’s resale tickets are listed as high as $17,385 (suite) and as low as $271 (207A). For the Sixers-Celtics game, SeatGeek’s resale tickets range from $90 (Section 206) to $5,598 (suite) and StubHub’s resale tickets are listed as high as $6,159 (third row) and as low as $351 (Section 312).

As the 2025-26 season unfolds, all of those prices may increase. StubHub said that Sixers search demand “rose more than 12X year-over-year" and has climbed from sixth to first among the NBA’s most searched teams. After James’ exit, StubHub added that the Lakers slipped from first to fifth in ever demand metric. Meanwhile, SeatGeek said that eight of the NBA’s top 15 games include the Sixers.

“The most comparable data we have is from when LeBron joined the Lakers in 2018,” Meyer told me in a written statement. “In the first days after the schedule dropped, the Lakers captured close to a third of all NBA resale on SeatGeek, and the 76ers are following that same script now.”

This article was originally published on Forbes.com