Fans who want to see Derek Jeter's final regular-season home game are going to have to fork over a small fortune.
Hours after the New York Yankees star announced that he'd be retiring following the 2014 season, ticket prices skyrocketed for his final scheduled home game. According to reports, average ticket prices for the Yankees regular season finale at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 25 against the Baltimore Orioles started the day at $304. They climbed nearly 300 percent in the hours after 2 p.m. ET, when Jeter posted his announcement on his Facebook page.
Jeter, who ranks first in games played, hits, stolen bases and at-bats for the Yankees, will call it quits after 19 years in New York.
Ticket listings are back up to say #FarewellCaptain. 500+ listings available here: http://t.co/ZjpU084zvB pic.twitter.com/hm8OZ10Vll
— TiqIQ (@TiqIQ) February 12, 2014
Even the cheap seats are shooting up in price. According to SeatGeek, the cheapest available tickets for Jeter's final home game went from $26 before his announcement to more than $300 afterwards.
The Yankees pulled out all the stops for closer Mariano Rivera's final home game. The legendary closer, who retired in 2013, was honored with a pre-game ceremony as well as a special performance by Metallica.
The festivities for Jeter will surely be as elaborate, if not more so. And the demand for tickets is likely to exceed that of Rivera's final game.
"Mariano was special," Chris Vlahos, a ticket broker, told NJ.com. "But this is Derek Jeter."
