The Cheapest Seats
Newsletter 2025-02-28
I like the finer things in life. I just don’t like to pay for them. Last summer, my family and I relaxed on a private beach on Lake Michigan thanks to friends of friends whose late grandma bought a small house in a water-adjacent neighborhood we could never afford today. I also took my wife and kids to an NFL game, an outing that would have cost four figures in better times but that I got away with for $120 total because it was for a tanking Colts team in the middle of a blizzard. I kept that high-life, low-budget strategy going with my newest fixation: Pacers games. In my mind, the NBA is the epitome of an extravagant outing. Splurging for courtside seats is the fastest and dumbest way to show how rich and important you are. This week, I paid $7.91 each for two Pacers tickets, all fees included. I even had free parking. I felt like the Reggie Miller of saving money. I’ll wait for my call from the Cheapskate Hall of Fame.
Normally, when I encounter a deal that good, I worry about the health of the business. I feel bad when the beer at my local brewery is too cheap lest my next pitcher put them into bankruptcy. I don’t want to kill the goose that pours the golden lager. Paying $7.91 to see a professional sporting event is an absurdly good deal. Lola and I had to fork over more than that to watch our oldest daughter’s sectional cross country meet. Yes, we had to pay to see our own child run around a cornfield. Entertainment options are limited around here when it’s not basketball season. Don’t even get me started on show choir. Lola paid forty dollars to attend one of Betsy’s all-day competitions. The next week, we thought we’d save time and money by watching the livestream from home. That cost twenty bucks. The NBA is charging less than our high school’s music department. Somebody should check on them and make sure they’re all right.
Before fees, the actual price of my Pacers tickets was $5.75. A number of factors helped drive down the price.
