Caitlin Clark's Iowa Jersey Retirement Leads to All-Time High Prices Per Ticket Site
On April 10, 2024, three days after the Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team lost the 2024 NCAA National Championship game against Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Hawkeyes announced that they would be retiring superstar Caitlin Clark's No. 22 jersey.
This announcement didn't surprise anybody, given that Clark is arguably the greatest college basketball player of all time, regardless of gender. But what initially raised questions after the jersey retirement news was when exactly the ceremony would occur, as that hadn't yet been announced.
After months of fan speculation, Iowa announced on Wednesday that Clark's jersey will officially be retired on February 2, when the Hawkeyes face JuJu Watkins and the USC Trojans at home.
The Hawkeyes have remained a big draw this season, even without Clark. But that February 2 game just became the hottest ticket within the women's basketball world, which is proven by how the ticket prices have skyrocketed over the past day.
Online ticketing marketplace TickPick made an X post on December 19 that wrote, "Iowa is retiring Caitlin Clark’s jersey number on February 2nd.
"The cheapest ticket to the game is $711.
"This is currently the most expensive women’s basketball ticket on record."
Iowa is retiring Caitlin Clark’s jersey number on February 2nd.
— TickPick (@TickPick) December 19, 2024
The cheapest ticket to the game is $711.
This is currently the most expensive women’s basketball ticket on record.
They followed that up with another post writing, "The cheapest ticket sold to the game before the news was $283.
"The most expensive women's college basketball ticket - before this announcement - was Caitlin Clark's last home game at Iowa where the cheapest ticket was $358 for SRO [Standing Room Only] and $450 for a physical ticket."
The cheapest ticket sold to the game before the news was $283.
— TickPick (@TickPick) December 19, 2024
The most expensive women's college basketball ticket - before this announcement - was Caitlin Clark's last home game at Iowa where the cheapest ticket was $358 for SRO and $450 for a physical ticket.
While the cheapest ticket may be $711, many fans are noting that the vast majority of tickets are much pricier than that, typically north of $1,000.
What's for sure is that fans will have to pay a pretty penny to watch Clark's No. 22 assume its rightful place in the Carver-Hawkeye Arena's rafters.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.