London Knights’ exit creates buyers’ market for Memorial Cup tickets

LONDON, Ont. — Even before the London Knights' ouster became official, fans were trying to get rid of their tickets.

The bottom tends to fall out of the secondary ticket market at the Memorial Cup once the host team exits. At the start of the tournament, there was a buzz around the potential for the Knights to try to win the title after coming up short in the previous two tournaments. Once London bowed out with a 7-2 loss to the Guelph Storm, ads started popping up on the resale site Kijiji, with some pretty favourable prices.

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Tournament organizers also held a meeting on Thursday morning to discuss how to organize ticket exchanges for London fans who bought packages for the entire event, but now want to sell them.

At the start of the the Cup, the going rate for tickets was $70. Major junior hockey, despite improving national TV and media coverage, primarily remains a local game with a local following. That creates a bit of a paradox for the Canadian Hockey League. It needs a host team as the anchor for its showcase season-ending event, which has reached a scale that surpasses the capacity of about three-quarters of the teams in the league. The host team's fortunes in the tournament ultimately becomes the main driver for the success of the event.

With the Knights out, there might be a chance to see championship hockey at rock-bottom prices. Especially if buyers are willing to wait until closer to the start of Friday's semifinal and Sunday's final to scoop up tickets.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.