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$275 could get you a Cubs playoff ticket

If you're in the market for tickets for either of the next two playoff games between the Cubs and Cardinals at Wrigley Field, you might find the prices relatively affordable.

But if the Cubs reach the World Series, be prepared to max out your credit cards.

Ticket brokers say the range of tickets for the next two games runs from $275 for the worst seat in the house to as much as $1,700 to $1,900 for seats in the first couple of rows behind the dugouts.

John Goran, owner of Prime Time Tickets in Chicago, believes good deals will be available Monday.

"I would think the prices are going to be coming down, myself. I think there are still a lot of seats out there," he said. "Within the first 10 rows, you can pick something up for $800 or $900."

Chris Leyden, a content analyst at New York-based SeatGeek, has been keeping an eye on the secondary market.

"Within the 12 hours after the Cubs won the wild card game, ticket prices in St. Louis went up 50 percent, because there was suddenly that influx of demand from Chicago for people who want to drive down to St. Louis," he said.

The games in Chicago will be even hotter.

"Definitely, the games in Chicago are far more expensive than the first two games in St. Louis. And even game five in St. Louis would be far cheaper than the two Chicago games will be," Leyden said. "The Cubs are the hottest ticket in baseball for this round, and will be the hottest ticket in baseball as far as they advance. The only team that even comes remotely close so far has kind of been the (Toronto) Blue Jays.

"The demand for the Cubs is really exceeding everyone by a mile," he added.

Tickets for Monday's game are selling for an average price of $507, Leyden said. For Tuesday's matchup, the average price as of Sunday was $442.

Prices could drop during the day Monday as brokers become more eager to sell their inventory.

"So if a fan waits until (Monday) morning, they may end up saving money, but they might not get the seats in the spot that they wanted," Leyden said.

If the Cubs continue to advance, fans can expect to see ticket prices soar in the later rounds.

"Right now, what we're seeing, we don't have a ticket for less than $3,000 on our site right now for the World Series," Leyden said. "We don't have an abundance of inventory yet, mainly because a lot of those tickets haven't been sold yet."

Leyden predicts the cost of a potential Cubs World Series ticket will surpass any baseball game SeatGeek has tracked since 2010. And it will easily outpace the average resale price for Game 6 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final at the United Center, which was $1,426.

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