MANILA, Philippines - It’s been four years since arch rivals Ateneo and La Salle face off in the playoffs of the UAAP men’s basketball tourney and understandably so, the anticipation is sky-high that tickets to today’s 4 p.m. matchup are hard to find, and if there are any, they command exorbitant prices in the black market.
Tickets, according to a UAAP official and Ticketnet, the ticketing arm of Smart Araneta Coliseum, have been sold out as early as Thursday with no assurance that some more will be released in the morning of the Final Four matchup.
Schools are also selling tickets but as per students’ rants on social networking sites, these too are sold out, or the best thing that will happen is they would have to patiently wait in a long queue before securing one.
As such, some “enterprising” people who got their hands on the precious tickets took advantage of the hot demand to offer tickets at so much higher rates, some reportedly reaching as high as P8,000 for a patron seat and P5,000 for an Upper A seat.
In the classified ads site Sulit.com. ph, sellers are offering Upper Box tickets ranging from P1,200 to P3,500 as of 5 p.m. yesterday.
Ticket prices are normally pegged at P350 for patron, P300 for Lower Box B, P220 for Upper Box A, P95 for Upper Box B, and P60 for general admission.
An SRO is expected in the ADMU-DLSU semis game, which marks the third time the rivals are clashing this year. A fourth match is possible if the Green Archers would beat the No. 1 and twice-to-beat Blue Eagles today.
The last time fans witnessed more than two ADMU-DLSU games was in 2008, when they met in the finals and the Eagles won the series to start their current four-peat reign.