For the last several years, I have attended WPIAL boys high school basketball championship games at the Petersen Events Center. The cost for attending a game has been $10 for many years. This year, I planned to attend all three games and was surprised to find the cost of the tickets had risen to $13 for general admission and a whopping $23 for reserved seats, which is outrageous for a high school game.

By way of comparison, the cost of a general admission ticket to the Philadelphia Catholic League championship games at the Palestra were $12, and reserved $16 — so in a city with a much higher cost of living than Pittsburgh, to say nothing of higher quality basketball, ticket prices were less than the WPIAL championships.

Furthermore, the PIAA only charges $8 for tickets to the state finals in Hershey later this month. Thankfully the Trib livestreamed all the finals, so I watched the 4A and 6A games on my computer from the comfort of my home office. I think the WPIAL has some explaining to do for why its ticket prices are higher relative to Philadelphia and the state championships.

Jeff Hoener

Swissvale

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)