Memphis Grizzlies rank near top on list of most in-demand NBA tickets

A report from online ticket marketplace Vivid Seats shows the Memphis Grizzlies as one of the most popular NBA teams in the country by county, based on ticket sales data for the upcoming 2022-23 season .

Ja Morant and the rest of the Memphis Grizzlies have been called must-see basketball by numerous outlets, league executives and it’s television partners after they finished with the second-best record in the league last season and advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals in the 2022 Playoffs. With the squad having officially “arrived,” interest in the team appears to be swelling exponentially.

Memphis Grizzlies named one of the hottest tickets for 2022-23 NBA season

The online ticket marketplace Vivid Seats created a county-by-county map of the United States using NBA ticket sales data for the upcoming season.

The Memphis Grizzlies came in as the second-most popular NBA team on the site with a total of 242 counties spanning an astonishing seven different states, according to the report. Metropolitan cities of Memphis, Nashville, Little Rock, St. Louis, and Huntsville are included in the team’s footprint. The Minnesota Timberwolves came in at No. 1, followed by (in order) the Grizzlies, Atlanta Hawks, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Charlotte Hornets.

The bulk of the Grizzlies’ popularity comes from West Tennessee, Middle Tennessee and the vast majority of counties in neighboring Arkansas, per the report. Additionally, nearly half the counties in Mississippi (which is home to the team’s G-League affiliate in Southaven, the Hustle) make up a significant portion of the team’s popularity, too.

Additionally, the report named the Memphis Grizzlies as having one of the five most in-demand single game tickets for the 2022-23 regular season.

Coming in at No. 5, based on the average ticket price, is the team’s March 7, 2023 game in Los Angeles against the Lakers. The average cost for a ticket to see Ja Morant and LeBron James square off inside Crypto.com Arena clocks in at $354.

Rounding out the rest of the top five are four other Laker games, including the season opener vs the Warriors and their Christmas Day game vs Dallas:

• $473 – Lakers at Golden State Warriors on Oct. 18
• $417 – Los Angeles Clippers at Lakers on Oct. 20
• $393 – Lakers at Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 25
• $379 – Lakers at Boston Celtics on Jan. 28
• $354 – Memphis Grizzlies vs Lakers on March 7

While the Grizzlies are very much in-demand to see this season, they appear to be positioning themselves as a team of the working class. Memphis was nowhere to be found in the top-five of most expensive tickets in the league (based on average ticket price). That superlative goes to the Warriors, Lakers, Hornets, Mavericks and Hawks.