NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The final regular season game between WNBA Rookie of the Year candidates Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark is breaking ticket price records.

As the two stars near the end of their debut season, their highly anticipated showdown in Chicago on Friday (August 30) has created huge demand for tickets, sending prices to unprecedented heights.

According to Gametime, a last-minute ticket platform, the average price to snag a seat at Wintrust Arena for Thursday afternoon’s Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky showdown was an eye-watering $1,045. Premium spots close to the action cost a whopping $2,663.

The average ticket price for the game was around $845 on StubHub, $2,056 on SeatGeek, $2,825 on TicketMaster and $689 on Vivid Seats.

Seats in the upper sections of the arena are available for around $180 each.

For comparison, tickets for other WNBA games played on the same day cost less than $20.

Ticket prices for this game are well above the previous record set during Game Two in June, when ticket prices averaged $253, with four figures.

The sky-high ticket prices reflect the unprecedented impact of Reese and Clark’s arrival in the WNBA.

Clark and Reese, selected first and seventh overall respectively in the 2024 WNBA Draft, entered the season on high note and have not disappointed.

Clark and Reese played on June 16 and drew the league’s largest audience in 23 years. There have been 20 games with more than a million viewers, and Clark has played in all but three. Reese’s game against Las Vegas last weekend drew the third-highest viewership of the season.

Reese is the league’s leading rebounder with 12.9 per game — the highest average in league history. She saw her unprecedented streak of three straight games with 20 or more rebounds end in a loss to Washington on Wednesday. She currently ties with Tina Charles for the rookie record with 22 double-doubles this season. The Sky All-Star set the WNBA record earlier this season with 15 consecutive double-doubles.

Clark made headlines Wednesday night. After setting the rookie assists record on Aug. 18, the Fever guard set the rookie record for 3-pointers made in a win over the Connecticut Sun.

She is averaging 18 points, a league-leading 8.1 assists and 5.7 rebounds. Clark is on pace to break the all-time single-season assists record. She also has at least 15 points and five assists in 22 games this season, more than any WNBA player ever.

Clark has led the Fever to their most wins since 2016 and the team is in position to reach the playoffs for the first time since that season.

One downside to Clark’s aggressive play is that it leads to turnovers. In addition to leading the league in assists, she also leads the WNBA in turnovers.

Since 2008, 11 of the last 16 winners of the WNBA Rookie of the Year award have been the No. 1 pick in the draft, including the last two.

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AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg contributed to this report.

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