Topline
Ticket prices to Saturday’s Kentucky Derby hit a record this week with the average ticket on the secondary market going for over $1,700, according to ticket site TicketiQ, while fans who want one of the best seats in the house can expect to pay over $16,000.
The most expensive tickets available to the 150th Kentucky Derby on Saturday cost over $16,700.
Key Facts
Tickets on the secondary market for a race costs $1,774, according to TicketiQ, though tickets to Saturday’s main event are going fast, with only 384 left on the site as of Thursday afternoon.
That average price is the highest for the event since 2011, topping last year’s $1,651 average secondary market list price and going well above the $730 average price from 2022.
Fans can still catch the Derby for far less, with the cheapest seats going for $121, while the most expensive two-day package to the Derby and Friday’s Kentucky Oaks costs a staggering $16,709, according to TicketiQ.
Ticket resale site TicketSmarter puts the average price on the secondary market for race day above $1,250, just over last year’s $1,214 average or the $1,092 attendees paid on average in 2022—while TickPick puts the average at $1,028.
General admission tickets on the infield final turn are still available directly through the Kentucky Derby starting at $275, though the site warns inventory is low.
What To Watch For
Americans are expected to bet millions of dollars on the Kentucky Derby, either in person or on online sports betting sites in states where sports betting is legal. FanDuel puts the odds of Sierra Leone winning at 3-1, the best odds of the nearly two dozen horses in the race, followed by Fierceness (5-2), Catching Freedom (8-1), Just A Touch (10-1), Forever Young (10-1), Honor Marie (20-1), Just Steel (20-1), Mystik Dan (20-1), Stronghold (20-1), Track Phantom (20-1), Dornoch (20-1) and Resilience (20-1).
Surprising Fact
The roughly 150,000 fans expected to attend Churchill Downs won’t only be watching the race and wagering on their favorite horses, they will also put down an estimated 24,000 bottles of Old Forester bourbon 20,000 bottles of Woodford Reserve bourbon and 1,000 pounds of mint—the ingredients of the Derby staple Mint Julep.
