We aggregated all Masters tickets -- for all events, like single-day badges, half-day, multi-day, etc. We then plotted the price change by hour to get a picture of the Tiger effect on Masters tickets

(updated: See the “Tiger effect” on prices below)

The Masters Golf Tournament tickets will be perhaps the most interesting ticket in sports to follow the next few days and leading up to April 8 when the first tee shot is stuck at Augusta. Tiger Woods, the face of golf and in many ways the face of sports in general was thought not to be playing in this year’s Masters. Late last week, however, there was speculation that Woods would make his return to golf at Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational (tickets). Tuesday (3/16), Tiger Woods announced in a statement, “I feel like I’m ready to start my season at Augusta.”

Will fans welcome Tiger back?

A ticket or “badge” for the Masters has historically been one of the toughest in all of sports to score. Even with a thriving ticket market, Masters badges just weren’t available to golf fans in past years. That changed last year, due in part to the down economy. Masters Badges were readily available on the ticket market. Attending The Masters became something golf fans could mark off their bucket list.

This year, with the prospect of Tiger Woods not playing in golf’s most prestigious event, ticket prices were down compared to the same time last year.

Today, with the announcement that Tiger Woods will return to golf, the question of the hour is, “how will fans respond.”

Here at FanSnap, we have several ways to measure fan interest:

• search frequency
• ticket availability
• ticket price
• how each of the above changes over time

The “Tiger Effect”

• Fans using FanSnap to search for Masters tickets was double what is was yesterday by noon today. By 3:00 p.m. (PT) searches for “Masters tickets” were up 4x yesterday’s searches.
• There are 20% fewer tickets available today than there were yesterday, which is a strong indicator fans are buying.
• Masters ticket prices increased by approximately 5%.
• 24 hours after Tiger’s announcement, prices have begun to climb by approximately 30%.
• Here are what the average prices of specific types of tickets (badges) have done in the last 24 hours:
  • Four-day (Thursday-Sunday) badges went from averaging $2,600 to $2,710
  • Thursday-only badges went from averaging $746 to $759
  • Friday-only badges went from averaging $733 to $801
  • Saturday-only badges went from averaging $661 to $742
  • Sunday-only badges went from averaging $661 to $689

The 30% increase we’re seeing today could be due to the “Tiger effect,” or probably more likely due to all the news coverage of Masters ticket availability.

Important to fans is that while looking at average price gives us some visibility into trends, fans can still find amazing values for Masters badges across the board.

• Four-day (Thursday-Sunday) badges start at $2,397 ($300 below the average price)
• Thursday-only badges start at $460 ($300 below the average price)
• Friday-only badges start at $658 (nearly $150 below the average)
• Saturday-only badges start at $600 (nearly $150 below the average)
• Sunday-only badges start at $627 ($50+ below the average)

To put Masters ticket prices into perspective, these are tickets that would have cost upwards of $5,000 just a few years ago, Here’s how Masters badges compare to other major sporting events (based on average ticket price):

• BCS National Championship ticket = $865 - $1,000
• World Series game tickets = $910 - $1,100
• Super Bowl tickets = $2,200 - $3,200
• Olympic Gold Medal Hockey (U.S. v Canada) tickets = $3,600 - $4,300
• Upcoming 2010 NCAA Final Four Championship game = $475
• 2010 MLB Opening Day (Yankees @ Red Sox) tickets = $251

Christian

Justin Bieber announced his first headlining tour of North America — The “My World” Tour — featuring special guest Sean Kingston via bieberfever.com. “Justin Bieber tickets” are a hot search on FanSnap. This tour should be huge. Will it rival the Jonus Brothers and Taylor Swift? We’ll see.

The “MY WORLD” tour takes it’s name from Justin Bieber’s sophomore album MY WORLD 2.0, which hits stores on March 23. Justin Bieber’s debut album, My World featured hits “One Time,” “One Less Lonely Girl,” “Love Me,” and “Favorite Girl.”

Bieber Bio
Born in Stratford, Ontario, Justin Bieber is a multi-talented singer, and a self-taught musician on drums, guitar, piano, and trumpet. To date, he has surpassed 150 million YouTube.com views (the first 50 million of them as an amateur starting in 2007, posting renditions of his favorite hip-hop and R&B songs). Also in 2007, his manager Scooter Braun introduced Justin to the music industry in Atlanta. There he met multi-platinum superstar Usher, who signed the 13 year-old to his first professional deal and formed the RBMG joint-venture label with Braun and Antonio ‘L.A.’ Reid, Chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group. via bieberfever.com

Justin Bieber Tour dates
June 23 - Hartford, CT - XL Center
June 24 - Trenton, NJ - Sun National Bank Center
June 26 - Cincinnati, OH - US Bank Arena
June 27 - Milwaukee, WI - Milwaukee Summerfest
June 29 - Minneapolios, MN - Target Center
June 30 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena
July 02 - Moline, IL - i wireless Center
July 03 - Omaha, NE - Qwest Center
July 05 - Grand Prairie, TX - NOKIA Theater at Grand Prairie
July 06 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center
July 08 - Broomfield, CO - 1stBANK Center
July 10 - West Valley City, UT - The E Center
July 13- Everett, WA - Comcast Arena at Everett
July 14 - Portland, OR - Rose Garden
July 17 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
July 18 - Reno, NV - Reno Events Center
July 20 - Los Angeles, CA - NOKIA Theatre LA Live
July 21 - Paso Robles, CA - California Mid-State Fair
July 24 - Las Vegas NV - The Theatre for the Performing Arts Center at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino
July 25 - Glendale, AZ - Jobing.com Arena
July 28 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
July 29 -  Little Rock, AR - Verizon Arena
July 31 - Memphis, TN - FedExForum
Aug. 01 - Lafayette, LA - Cajundome
Aug. 04 - Orlando, FL - Amway Arena
Aug. 05 - Sunrise, FL - BankAtlantic Center
Aug. 08 - Charlotte, NC - Time Warner Cable Arena
Aug. 09 - Duluth, GA - Arena at Gwinnett Center
Aug. 11 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
Aug. 12 - Indianapolis, IN - Conseco Fieldhouse
Aug. 14 - Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center
Aug. 15 - Auburn Hills, MI - The Palace of Auburn Hills
Aug. 21 - Toronto, ON, CA - Air Canada Centre
Aug. 22 - London, ON, CA - John Labatt Centre
Aug. 24 - Ottowa, ON, CA - Scotiabank Place
Aug. 25 - Albany, NY - Times Union Center
Aug. 27 - Providence, RI - Dunkin\’ Donuts Center
Aug. 28 - Newmark, NJ - Prudential Center
Aug. 29 - Syracuse, NY - New York State Fair
Aug. 31 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
Sept. 01 - Manchester, NH - Verizon Wireless Arena
Sept. 03 - Essex Junction, VT - Coca Cola Grandstand at Champlain Valley Exposition
Sept. 04 - Allentown, PA - The Great Allentown Fair

Search for Justin Bieber tickets with FanSnap.

UPDATE: ESPN reporting: “The Masters is where I won my first major and I view this tournament with great respect. After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I’m ready to start my season at Augusta,” Woods said in a statement.

Our arms hurt a bit here at FanSnap for calling this one correctly and patting ourselves on the back for it. No way Tiger misses the Masters and now ESPN confirmed it.

Original post from March 11….

Mark Cannizzaro at the New York Post broke the story today. The Post’s headline reads, “Tiger could return to tour in two weeks.” Cannizzaro has “multiple sources” telling him that Tiger has hired former Bush administration press secretary, Ari Fleischer and is plotting a return to Golf in time for the Arnold Palmer Invitational (tickets) at Bay Hill in Orlando, March 25-28. Practice rounds at Bay Hill start on March 22.

We here at FanSnap expected to see Tiger Woods return to golf in time for the Masters. It looks now like that will be the case.

Golf fans considering going to Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational (tickets) or Augusta for the Masters (tickets) might consider snapping up tickets now. We expect ticket demand for both events to increase as Team Tiger Woods makes Tiger’s intentions more explicit.

Read more:

• New York Post, Tiger could return to tour in two weeks
• USA Today, New York Post: Tiger returning in two weeks

Christian

We are finding thousands of great NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tickets, even for those sessions that are already ‘sold out.’ Fans searching for NCAA tickets on FanSnap are saving time and money, and benefiting from an amazing choice of tickets to the Final Four® in Indianapolis, as well as the Elite 8® in Syracuse, Salt Lake City, Saint Louis and Houston, and the Sweet 16® and opening rounds of the West Region, Midwest Region, South Region and East Region.

The NCAA tournament is unique in that hoops fans have very little time to make ticket and travel arrangements once the pairings are revealed, and throughout the month they must react quickly if they are fortunate enough to have their team advance through the bracket. Part of what drives fans to madness in March is the exercise of checking ticket site after ticket site to try and find the set of tickets that best meet their budget.

“FanSnap ticket search results, gleaned from searching dozens of ticket sites, include hundreds or in some cases thousands of tickets for each game,” said FanSnap CEO Mike Janes. “FanSnap makes it very hard for fans to overpay, as fans using the FanSnap ticket search engine can easily identify at a glance the ‘best value’ tickets - those that are priced substantially below the other available comparable tickets by 10%, 25%, even 50% less.”

For example, FanSnap ticket search results currently show 4,000+ NCAA Championship Game tickets from nine ticket sites, which represent hundreds of sellers. The asking prices for comparable NCAA Championship Game tickets vary by as much as 60%.

The variation in asking prices for the Regionals is similar, where comparable tickets to the Elite 8 games vary by up to 50%. For example, fans using FanSnap can find tickets to the Midwest Regional, for half the price of other tickets being offered in the same area of the arena.

- West Regional (Salt Lake City) - up to 43% variation
- East Regional (Syracuse) - up to 52% variation
- Midwest Regional (St Louis) - up to 51% variation
- South Regional (Houston) - up to 58% variation

FanSnap highlights the best ticket values at any given moment. Fans can buy on their own schedule rather than waiting to purchase in an attempt to get a better value, and risking missing out on the best, or any, tickets altogether. Fans searching all NCAA tournament events will see FanSnap’s convenient up-to-the-moment summary table of the available best values at different price points. Fans can also use FanSnap’s award-winning dynamic FanSnap Maps, noting both the best value star icons, as well as being able to zoom into an incredibly useful row-level view that highlights ticket offers that often differ by 10% to 25%, even within the same section of the arena.

Fans searching all NCAA tournament events will see FanSnap’s convenient up-to-the-moment summary table of the available best values at different price points.

A review of current NCAA ticket prices on FanSnap also shows average asking prices vary greatly from Regional to Regional, e.g. for NCAA Regional Finals tickets:
- In Salt Lake City, West Regional tickets start at $103 and average $191.
- In Syracuse, East Regional tickets start at $109 and average $287.
- In St Louis, Midwest Regional tickets start at $68 and average $200.
- In Houston, South Regional tickets start at $30 and average $207.

The ticket variability is even more pronounced for Round 1 and 2 games. The average price of an “all-sessions strip” (tickets to all the games at a venue) in Buffalo is $140 more than for any other venue.

That’s right! The Backstreet Boys will be hitting the road with a full blown tour. The boys — A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and Nick Carter — who brought us  “Quit Playing Games With My Heart,” “I Want It That Way,” “Larger than Life,” continue to make new music and tour the world like mad men.

This was posted on www.backstreetboys.com

Hey North American Fans,

We have some exciting news. We have been working on our upcoming North American tour and we are excited to announce the first of many upcoming dates.

We’ll keep you posted as we find Backstreet Boys tickets and more tour dates. For now, there are only a few dates available.

Our friends over at wikipedia have a nice list of past Backboys tour info:

• We Wanna Be With You Tour (1995–1996)
• Backstreet Boys - Live In Concert Tour - (1996–1997)
• Backstreet’s Back Tour (1997–1998)
• Into the Millennium Tour (1999–2000)
• The Black & Blue Tour (2000–2001)
• Up Close & Personal Tour (March/April 2005)
• The Never Gone Tour (2005–2006)
• Unbreakable Tour (2008–2009)
• This Is Us Tour (2009– Spring 2010)

Yes, It’s true, we can’t get enough Gaga. She’s everywhere. We wonder what got more views, her “Telephone” video with Beyonce on YouTube or the NCAA Brackets?

We’ve been promising a Lady Gaga tickets update for weeks and now it’s here! Here goes: we told you months ago that the Haus of Gaga would be back on U.S. soil touring the big arenas.  Our promises were confirmed by ladygaga.com. We had everything we needed to know about a new leg of the Lady Gaga tour except the dates.  Now, the dates are in too.

Lady Gaga Monster Ball Tour Dates:

June 28 – Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
July 1 – Boston, MA - TD Garden
July 4 – Atlantic City, NJ - Boardwalk Hall
July 6 – New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
July 11 – Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
July 14 – Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
July 15 – Indianapolis, IN - Conseco Fieldhouse
July 17 – St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center
July 20 – Oklahoma City, OK - Ford Center
July 22 – Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
July 25 – Houston, TX - Toyota Center
July 28 – Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
July 31 – Phoenix, AZ - US Airways Center
Aug. 3 – Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
Aug. 11 – Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center
Aug. 13 – Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand
Aug. 16 – San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
Aug. 19 – Portland, OR - Rose Garden
Aug. 21 – Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome
Aug. 23 – Vancouver, BC - General Motors Place
Aug. 26 – Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place
Aug. 30 – St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
Sept. 1 – Milwaukee, WI - Bradley Center
Sept. 4 – Detroit, MI - The Palace Of Auburn Hills
Sept. 5 – Pittsburgh, PA - Consol Energy Center
Sept. 7 – Washington, DC - Verizon Center
Sept. 8 – Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena
Sept. 14 – Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center
Sept. 16 – Hartford, CT - XL Center
Sept. 18 – Charlotte, NC - Time Warner Cable Arena
Sept. 19 – Raleigh, NC - RBC Center

Here are our most popular Gaga posts

Milwaukee to host Round 1 & 2 games at the Bradley Center for the NCAA tournament (tickets).

Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, Ohio State and UC Santa Barbara from the Midwest Region as well as Xavier, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, and Oakland  from the South Region will play their Round 1 games on Friday March 19. Round 1 winners will return to the Bradley Center on Sunday the 21st to play Round 2 games.

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tickets for Round 1 & 2 are sold as “sessions” — or as a strip. Session tickets get fan in to two games — one early and one later. Officials then clear the arena and ready it for the second session (of two games) later in the day. An “All Sessions Strip” is a ticket to all the games at a venue.

There are currently hundreds of All Sessions Strips for the NCAA Tournament Rounds 1 & 2 at the Bradley Center available.

Lowest price Bradley Center Strips = $300
Bradley Center Strips average = $437

The winner of this bracket advances to Midwest Regional

The winner of this bracket advances to South Regional

Christian

Providence’s Dunkin Donuts Center will play host to Round 1 & 2 games of the NCAA tournament (tickets).

Villanova, Robert Morris, Richmond, St. Mary’s from the South Region as well as Tennessee, San Diego State, Georgetown and Ohio from the Midwest Region will play their Round 1 games on Thursday March 18. Round 1 winners will be back at the Dunkin Donuts Center on Saturday to play Round 2 games.

The top overall seed in the NCAA tournament, Kansas will be playing at the Ford Center — making the Oklahoma City one of the hotter NCAA tournament tickets.

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tickets for Round 1 & 2 are sold as “sessions” — or as a strip. Session tickets get fan in to two games — one early and one later. Officials then clear the arena and ready it for the second session (of two games) later in the day. An “All Sessions Strip” is a ticket to all the games at a venue.

There are hundreds of All Session Strips for the NCAA Tournament Rounds 1 & 2 at the Dunkin Donuts Center available.

Lowest price Providence Strips = $270
Providence Strips average = $458

The winner of this bracket advances to Midwest Regional

The winner of this bracket advances to West Regional

Christian

Spokane, Washington will host Round 1 & 2 games at Spokane Arena for the NCAA tournament (tickets).

Michigan State, New Mexico State, Maryland and Houston from the Midwest Region as well as Texas A&M, Utah State, Purdue and Siena from the South Region will play their Round 1 games on Friday March 19. Round 1 winners will be back at the Spokane Arena on Sunday the 21st to play Round 2 games.

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tickets for Round 1 & 2 are sold as “sessions” — or as a strip. Session tickets get fan in to two games — one early and one later. Officials then clear the arena and ready it for the second session (of two games) later in the day. An “All Sessions Strip” is a ticket to all the games at a venue.

There are currently hundreds of All Sessions Strips for the NCAA Tournament Rounds 1 & 2 at the Spokane Arena available.

Lowest price Spokane Strips = $100
Spokane Strips average = $438

The winner of this bracket advances to Midwest Regional

The winner of this bracket advances to South Regional

Christian

Oklahoma City will play host to Round 1 & 2 games for the NCAA tournament (tickets).

Kansas, Lehigh, UNLV and Northern Iowa from the Midwest Region as well as BYU, Florida, Kansas State and North Texas from the Western Region will play their Round 1 games on Thursday March 18. Round 1 winners will be back at the Ford Center on Saturday to play Round 2 games.

The top overall seed in the NCAA tournament, Kansas will be playing at the Ford Center — making the Oklahoma City one of the hotter NCAA tournament tickets.

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tickets for Round 1 & 2 are sold as “sessions” — or as a strip. Session tickets get fan in to two games — one early and one later. Officials then clear the arena and ready it for the second session (of two games) later in the day. An “All Sessions Strip” is a ticket to all the games at a venue.

There are currently less than 1,000 All Session Strips for the NCAA Tournament Rounds 1 & 2 at the Ford Center available.

Lowest price Oklahoma City Strips = $269
Oklahoma City Strips average = $489

The winner of this bracket advances to Midwest Regional

The winner of this bracket advances to West Regional

Christian