Lakers ticket plan targets brokers, not immediate price hike

The Lakers’ incoming owners plan to make considerably more money from ticket sales.

That doesn’t necessarily mean immediately charging fans 66 percent more to enter the building.

An investor presentation obtained by The Wall Street Journal⁠ projected that the Lakers’ average ticket price could rise from approximately $217 to $361.

But according to Dan Woike of The Athletic, a source familiar with the sale said the $361 figure was intended to demonstrate the revenue available by reclaiming tickets controlled by outside brokers. It was not a plan for an immediate, across-the-board price increase.

The strategy is fairly straightforward. Instead of selling a ticket to a broker for $100 and watching the broker resell it for $200, the Lakers could use dynamic pricing and sell it closer to the higher price themselves.

Approximately 6,000 tickets currently controlled by brokers could be recovered under the plan, according to the Journal.

Of course, that distinction may not mean much to the person paying $200. Eliminating the middleman allows the Lakers to collect the markup, but it does not necessarily make attending a game cheaper.

The franchise had already announced substantial ticket-price increases for the 2026-27 season in February, months before Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger agreed to acquire control from Mark Walter at a $12.5 billion valuation. No additional increases have been announced beyond this season.

The sale still requires approval from the NBA’s Board of Governors.

Kushner and Iger reportedly believe the Lakers could be worth $30 billion within a decade. Capturing more ticket revenue is one part of getting there.

The brokers may be the immediate target. Fans will still want to see the final price.