At least part of the reason the Lithuanian basketball club Vytautas Prienai decided to sign LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball earlier this week was because the team is strapped for cash at the moment. According to an ESPN report, the team is doing so bad financially that they barely even practice anymore since they can’t afford to do it. So they’re hoping that by bringing LiAngelo and LaMelo into the fold, they will be able to rake in more money in the months to come, even if the Ball brothers experiment ends up being a total disaster.
It appears as though their plan is working to perfection thus far, too. According to Lithuanian basketball reporter Simonas Baranauskas, LiAngelo and LaMelo are going to make their debut for Prienai on Jan. 9 during a game against BC Tsmoki-Minsk in the Baltic Basketball League, and tickets for the event are already about three times higher than normal. The game is also reportedly trending on the ticket resale site Tiketa and proving that there is some real interest in the Balls over in Lithuania.
But here’s the thing: Even though ticket prices for Prienai games have tripled, they’re still cheap. Like ridiculously cheap, especially when you compare them to the prices of NBA, college, and, hell, some high school games back in the U.S.
As For The Win pointed out, the average price for a Baltic Basketball League game is approximately 2.40 euros, which translates to about $2.83. But the Prienati/Tsmoki-Minsk game currently has tickets starting at about 7.30 euros, or $8.60. That represents a markup of more than 300 percent, but it’s still only $8.60 per ticket for a basketball game featuring a bunch of pros, which just seems insane (and seems to illustrate why there are money issues with the Ball brothers’ new team).
It’ll be interesting to see if the prices stay low once the Balls start playing games. But for now, it still sounds like a ticket to a game is a steal, especially when you consider how much money people are paying back in the U.S. to see the oldest Ball brother Lonzo play for the Lakers.
