With the Yankees trailing 2-0 against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, the Fall Classic shifts to New York on Monday night for Game 3. The series, with Games 1 and 2 in Los Angeles, opened last week with high ticket prices and predicted that the series could break a StubHub record for the event, but prices have since cooled slightly.

Since Friday, the average price of tickets sold on StubHub’s resale market for Game 3 has fallen by about 10 percent, with the cheapest single tickets starting around $700 as of Monday afternoon. A StubHub spokesperson, Adam Budelli, said the dip wasn’t surprising given the way the series between two star-studded markets has unfolded, as prices tend to fluctuate based on game results.

“Somewhat as expected, sometimes you’ll see a little bit of a softening in the market when a team jumps out to a 2-0 lead,” Budelli said Monday ahead of Game 3.

He noted that while the entry price is slightly lower than last week, average prices for the series returned to around $1,700, which is consistent with the average prices StubHub saw last week. According to StubHub, sales of Games 3 through 5 in New York increased by 30 percent this weekend. Budelli said this was likely because demand increased and there were fewer tickets up for grabs. For example, Dodgers fans may start to view Games 4 or Game 5 as a potential must-attend clincher.

Additionally, despite a slight decline in general admission ticket prices, demand for higher-priced seats remains strong, Budelli said.

“Obviously a lot will happen depending on how the game goes tonight,” Budelli said. “If the Yankees win, you’ll probably start to see tickets being sold for Game 6, like a big spike there. It’s always hard to tell once we get into the series how things are going, but I think the truth is we’re seeing super strong demand.”

The average price of World Series tickets sold on StubHub was $1,457 for Game 1 and $1,503 for Game 2. As of Monday at 10 a.m. ET, the remaining games were as follows, per StubHub.

• Game 3: $1,777
• Game 4: $1,798
• Game 5: $1,920
• Game 6: $1,840
• Game 7: $1,820

Budelli also highlighted the spike in average prices compared to previous years, as the series could be the most expensive in recent history. The average ticket price on StubHub for last year’s series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks was $884. In 2022, the average price for the World Series between the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies was $1,303.

“This is again really driven by two big fan bases and as the series goes on, that number seems to continue to increase, which we expected,” Budelli said.

As of Monday night, the cheapest single tickets for Games 4 and 5 were listed on StubHub, starting in the $650 to $750 range. On TickPick, another ticket marketplace, the cheapest single tickets for those games were listed between $1,000 and $1,100 . TickPick did not immediately provide its average prices for the series.

StubHub offers refunds for any games if they aren’t played, so Budelli recommended fans buy tickets in advance, with prices likely to increase, especially if the Yankees win on Monday. And if there is a Game 7, Budelli said there could be reason for more headlines.

“Based on what we see price-wise, it will certainly be one of the most expensive games in baseball,” he said. “We probably should have predicted that.”

Required reading

(Illustration: Meech Robinson / The Athletics)