This year’s BNP Paribas Open has a little more excitement to it with the announcement in early February that Serena Williams would return to Indian Wells for the first time since 2001. The female superstar won the tournament back in 2001, but was loudly booed by the crowd during the trophy ceremony (and during the match) because a semifinals matchup with her sister Venus never took place. Venus withdrew due to injury moments before the match was to begin, giving Serena a “bye” into the finals. The fans were incredibly excited for the sisterly semifinal matchup and reacted less than respectfully after the announcement that it wasn’t to be.
Many felt the crowd hostility was racially motivated. That may or may not have been the case, but the crowd treatment certainly offended Serena and Venus enough for them to avoid the tournament for more than a decade. Nonetheless, the younger Williams sister has decided to return this year and it has created major demand for tickets on the secondary market.
According to Championship Tennis Tours, the average price of BNP Paribas Open tickets has risen 5% over the past two weeks to the current price of $279. Even though the initial surge of excitement over Serena’s return has ended, ticket prices continue to maintain high levels and it’s expected prices will not drop too much as we get closer to the tournament.
Tickets to the Women’s Semifinals have increased 6% over the past seven days with the average price currently at $297 and the get-in price at $65. The second highest priced ticket of the tournament – to the Men’s and Women’s Finals the next day – has also seen a slight increase over the past seven days, up 2%. The average price to the final session is $624 with a get-in price of $139.
Though Serena will be the big draw, the highest priced session for 2015 BNP Paribas tickets is currently March 21st for the Men’s Semifinals and the Women’s Doubles Finals. The average price is $707 with the cheapest tickets currently at $125. The average price has slightly decreased over the past week, dropping 2%.
It’s actually been the earliest sessions that have seen the biggest increase in ticket prices. The day and evening sessions for the first week (Wednesday through Saturday, March 11th through 14th) have all seen increases in the average ticket price on the secondary market between 3-11%. The day sessions on March 12th, 13th, and 14th have all risen substantially and currently have average ticket prices of $154, $266, and $306, respectively.
If Serena can continue her strong play and advance deep into the tournament, ticket prices will continue to increase on the secondary market. And even though fans will have to pay a little more to get into the stadium, they’ll probably be pretty pleased to see tennis’s best female star back on the court at Indian Wells.
