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Duke-UNC tickets reaching Super Bowl prices due to Zion Williamson

By Connor Grott
Zion Williamson (R) averages 22.4 points per game, 9.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists this season and the Blue Devils are the top-ranked team in the country. Photo courtesy of Duke Blue Devils/Twitter
Zion Williamson (R) averages 22.4 points per game, 9.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists this season and the Blue Devils are the top-ranked team in the country. Photo courtesy of Duke Blue Devils/Twitter

Feb. 19 (UPI) -- The annual showdown between Duke and North Carolina takes place Wednesday night in the 9,314-seat Cameron Indoor Stadium, with tickets reaching Super Bowl prices.

As of Tuesday night, the cheapest seat for the rivalry game costs $3,005 on StubHub. The lowest ticket on Vivid Seats is listed at $2,919. If fans want to upgrade to higher-quality seats, ticket prices bump up to the $4000-plus range.

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Tickets for the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams matchup in Super Bowl LIII, just to get in the door, were selling for about $2,300 during the week of the game, according to Business Insider.

One ticket to this week's game sold for $10,652, according to Vivid Seats.

Duke freshman forward Zion Williamson, who is likely going No. 1 overall in the upcoming NBA Draft, is the game's main attraction and primary reason for ticket prices reaching abnormal heights. Another contributing factor is Duke's smaller gym, which holds under 10,000 fans and reserves up to 1,600 seats for students.

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For the 2018-19 season, Duke fans are traveling further to watch Williamson and the Blue Devils than ever before, with a median distance traveled of 469 miles, according to Vivid Seats.

Williamson's buzz in high school, generated from gravity-defying dunks, translated immediately to Duke. He averages 22.4 points per game, 9.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists this season and the Blue Devils are the top-ranked team in the country.

"Zion is a different bird. There's no doubt in my mind that he's been able to do things at that position, that size, that physically, I've ever seen done before," Tar Heels head coach Roy Williams said. "We tried to recruit him really, really hard. He's got a combination of skill set that I've never seen before. There is a lot of attention but he deserves it. He's backed it up."

The matchup between No. 1 Duke and eighth-ranked North Carolina tips off at 9 p.m. ET.

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