How the average Wichitan can score a ticket to the NCAA Tournament while it's in town

Wichita is one of the eight sites for the first round of the NCAA tournament this year, and judging from the banners going up downtown, parties planned this weekend and the general hubbub everywhere, it’s kind of a big deal.

So how does an average Wichitan experience it in person?

If Wednesday’s open practice session isn’t what you had in mind and you want to see a game, you still have hope to find a ticket, even if you weren’t among the buyers who scored all-session tickets (which sold for $240 and $270) back in November.

Here are some of the options left for people who want to catch a glimpse of tournament action while it’s in Wichita.

▪ NCAA Ticket Exchange: This is where Intrust Bank Arena officials suggest that people go to get tickets. It’s the only secondary-ticket marketplace that is guaranteed and approved by the NCAA, and sellers are allowed to list their tickets for free or at any price at or above face value.

A trip through the site on Monday morning showed all-session tickets ranging from $722 to $1,062 a person. Tickets for the first session on Thursday, when KU will face Penn and Seton Hall will play N.C. State, range from about $170 to $340 a person. Tickets for the Saturday session ranged from $255 to $850.

But the inventory, and likely the prices, will continue to change. If (God forbid) KU would lose in its 1 p.m. game to Penn on Thursday, for example, lots of KU fans could be looking to unload their remaining tickets. So if tickets aren’t there now, they could be by Thursday afternoon.

“If fans aren’t tied to a team and just want to experience it, they should keep looking,” said Christine Pileckas, Intrust Bank Arena’s director of sales and marketing.

▪ Third-party sellers: Several third-party sites also have tickets for sale. StubHub had some all-session tickets starting at $360 and tickets to the Thursday session that will feature KU vs. Penn starting at $189 for upper-level seats. Could you settle for watching Houston vs. San Diego State and Michigan vs. Montana on Thursday? Those seats start at as low as $74.49 for an upper level seat. Prices are similar at Vivid Seats.

▪ Schools from far, far away: Intrust Bank Arena officials also suggest that fans call some of the far-away, lower-seeded schools whose fans might not purchase the entire ticket allotment the school was given. A few examples: Sixteen-seed Penn is allowing anyone to fill out requests for its allotment online at pennathletics.com, and any tickets that remain will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. The University of Montana (14th seed) also will sell any of its remaining tickets. People can call the ticket office at 406-243-4051. And fans also can try their luck by calling the San Diego State (11th seed) ticket office at 619-283-7378.

▪ People outside the arena: It’s not legal for scalpers to sell tickets above face value outside of the arena unless they’ve purchased a ticket broker license, and no one has, said officials with the city of Wichita. The arena will shoo those people off of the property. Regular fans could be outside trying to unload tickets they don’t want if their teams loose. Buyer beware: These types of tickets aren’t guaranteed.

This story was originally published March 12, 2018 at 10:49 AM with the headline "How the average Wichitan can score a ticket to the NCAA Tournament while it's in town."