How Much Will It Cost Each Fan Base to Attend the 2016 Final Four?

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The stage for the 2016 Final Four is officially set, and Villanova, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Syracuse remain the final suitors to cut the nets from NRG Stadium Monday night. Those hoping to attend the festivities in Houston, however, should prepare to pay an arm and a leg for Final Four tickets and travel.

According to online seller TiqIQ, the average resale price for an All Sessions Pass, which grants access to both Semifinal games on Saturday as well as Monday’s Championship Game, is now $1,756.93. The cheapest All Sessions Pass can be found for $412. If looking to acquire access to just the Semifinal games Saturday night, Session 1 tickets to both games average $1,096.09. The “get-in” price, or cheapest available price, for Session 1 tickets is now $256. Championship Game tickets will be slightly less expensive, at an average price of $917.76 and a starting price of $134.

Travel costs won’t be much more welcoming for each fan base. Using data for flights and Houston hotels on Priceline, the cheapest round-trip airfare to Houston will be from Oklahoma City, where prices range from $519 to $552. Villanova fans will have the most expensive road to the Final Four, with round trip costs from Philadelphia ranging from $1,052 to $1,243.
Those prices can make even the biggest fans shudder, but that shouldn’t prevent them from booking a trip to the Lone Star State for the final rounds of tournament action. TiqIQ and Priceline have compiled the “all-in” price, or complete cost of tickets and travel, it will cost each fan base to be present for this year’s event in Houston.

The all-in price is calculated by using the average cost of an All Sessions Pass, the lowest currently available round trip airfare, and a three-night stay in a $200/night 3-star hotel. Their findings show that Oklahoma fans will save the most out all four fan bases, with their all-in price coming out to a grand total of $2,876. Oklahoma is the only school that can claim an all-in price below the $3,000 threshold, with Villanova peaking at $3,409. North Carolina and Syracuse each maintain a similar price, at $3,210 and $3,164, respectively.

Winning the national title on Monday night will be fan’s ultimate scale of worth, however. Villanova enters the Final Four after upsetting No. 1 overall seed Kansas in the Elite Eight. The Wildcats last reached the Final Four in 2009, though claimed their only championship in 1985. Oklahoma’s route to the tournament’s Semi-final round came through Oregon, which was unable to keep the Sooners at bay in the West Regional championship game.

UNC heads to Houston looking to claim its first championship since 2009, but will have to first get through Syracuse on Saturday. The Orange continue their fairytale tournament after knocking out No. 1 seed Virginia last week. At No. 10 in the Midwest Region, Syracuse is the lowest-seeded team to enter the national Semi-finals since VCU in 2011.