It's no secret that LeBron James sells tickets like no other, but less than 24 hours after he announced his anticipated 2018 free agency decision, the Los Angeles Lakers market is already feeling the ripple effect of his presence.
The mystique of the Lakers brand, in fact, may have been a selling point for LeBron in his second departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers in eight years. But it's the mystique of the LeBron James brand that's suddenly skyrocketed L.A. ticket demand in the wake of King James' move to the West Coast.
StubHub, the online ticket exchange, told CBSSports.com it saw an unprecedented jump in visits to its Lakers page on Sunday -- the day James agreed to his four-year contract -- compared to both the last 30 days and 2017's first day of NBA free agency.
Here's how StubHub's traffic for Lakers ticket searches changed:
Compared to average daily traffic over last 30 days: +1,831 percent
Compared to July 1, 2017 traffic: +7,398 percent
Those aren't your run-of-the-mill increases. Those are LeBron James increases.
And although the NBA's 2018-19 schedule has yet to be announced, StubHub has listings for the Lakers' home opener -- listings that were also subject to the sway of King James influence.
In 2017-18, the Lakers' Oct. 19 opener vs. the Los Angeles Clippers featured StubHub tickets for as low as $60. Now, with LeBron in the fold, the team's 2018-19 opener tickets are starting at $545 on StubHub. That's roughly an 800-percent increase, for those keeping score.
The explosion of Lakers ticket interest should come as no surprise to anyone who followed James' two stints in Cleveland. StubHub saw Cavaliers ticket demand increase every single year after James returned from the Miami Heat in 2014-15, and the exchange's average purchase price for Cavs tickets went up 80 percent from the previous year during LeBron's first season back.
