Are you interested in going to the Men’s Final Four next year in Detroit, or the Women’s Final Four in Columbus? If so, here’s your last chance to apply for the official ticket lottery.
Tickets for the events, which are run by the NCAA, go through a random lottery process. Here’s how it works:
- Click here for a link to the men’s tournament, and here for the women’s tournament.
- Select the number of seats you want. The maximum allowed is four.
- You’ll have to pay for the tickets now, plus a $25 application fee.
- You will be notified in the fall (they don’t mention a specific date) about your status.
- If you win, you’ll receive a random seat assignment in the upper deck of the stadium, and the tickets will be placed into your digital account.
- If you don’t win, you’ll be refunded for the tickets, but will not be refunded for the $25 application fee
Each ticket is $400, which includes both the semifinals and finals. So, on average, you’re paying $200 for the semifinal games, and another $200 for the championship game. In terms of value, it’s hard to beat that pricing, even if they are just upper-level tickets.
Of course there are some things you should keep in mind:
- You’re paying up front right now for tickets that you won’t find out if you own until the fall. At $400 per ticket strip, you may not love that.
- You’ll be paying the $25 application fee whether you win or lose.
- Your seat assignment will be completely random. It will be an upper deck ticket for sure, but could easily be the last row of a giant football stadium. (Note: all of the tickets in your order are guaranteed to be together).
So there’s definitely some downsides to this process. You may get terrible seats, and you’ll have between $400-$1600 tied up and in the hands of the NCAA for the next five to six months.
But if you want to go, would rather avoid the secondary markets, and don’t mind paying in advance, then this is a good strategy.
The entry deadline is May 31st, so don’t delay if you want to get in on it.
