Yankees-Astros ticket least expensive in wild-card game history

Maybe, no make that definitely, the New York Mets have become the hottest ticket in town.

You would think Yankee fans would be lining up longer than the No. 4 train to get a chance to see their team in a do-or-die playoff game after a three year span.

But, according to TiqIQ.com, which monitors secondary ticket market sites, the average asking price for the Astros-Yankees American League wild-card game at Yankee Stadium was $180.09.

If that figure holds up, it will be the least expensive ticket in the four-year history of wild-card games.

And, as of Tuesday morning, you could get a ticket for a mere $50 on StubHub.

Meanwhile the cheapest seats at Citi Field for the Oct. 12 NLDS game against the Dodgers are already starting at $205. And Wednesday's National League wild-card game between the Cubs and Pirates in Pittsburgh was averaging $300.41 as of Monday.

It's a surprising fact since the Yankees (87-75) haven't been to the playoffs since 2012, while the Astros (86-76) last went to the postseason in 2005. 

Houston won the season series against New York 4-3, splitting a four-game set at Minute Maid Park in its first meeting and taking two of three at Yankee Stadium.

But, if you went by payrolls, you would think the Yankees ($21.9 million) would be huge favorites over the visiting Astros ($81.2 million.)

They're not, and maybe Yankees fans sense a letdown.

The one-game playoff will be on Tuesday (8:05 p.m. ET on ESPN) with a trip to the division series on the line.

Lucky fan purchases ticket to World Series Game 1 for only $6 online

And you thought those "fake" Banksy prints were the only deals of the week.

That was until, what one can only assume was a careless oversight, a lucky fan was able to purchase a ticket to Game 1 of the World Series for only $6 on StubHub on Monday. And the jubilant buyer even  sent Deadspin this copy of his email confirmation as proof:

The ticket itself was only $3 with the StubHub service fee accounting for the other $3. The best available price for that section -- Right Field Box 97 -- is $759.00 right now, with most tickets over $850 and closer to $1,000.

Whether or not the seller misplaced a decimal point — making it  either way underpriced ($300.00) or way overpriced ($3,000.00) — or was just being kind, there is one happy fan going to Wednesday's Red Sox-Cardinals game for less than the price of a hot dog.

Yankees banish StubHub and let ticket scalpers run free: Report

In its bid to keep StubHub from helping drive down ticket prices, the New York Yankees are reportedly using a state anti-scalping law to keep the legal ticket reseller about a dozen city blocks from Yankee Stadium. But when it comes to traditional illegal scalpers, the team is letting them run free outside the House That Jeter Built.

Yankee security was practically giving scalper referrals to fans before Sunday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles, according to a report in The New York Post.

“Where do all the scalpers hang out?” a Post reporter asked a group of security guards outside Gate 8.

Almost in unison, the guards replied, “Gate 2.”

One said, “Just flash a little money, and they’ll come running to you.”

In other words, outside Yankee Stadium, price-gouging scalpers are getting high fives from security while free market Ticket Oak would probably be whittled down to Robinson Cano's new bat. The Biogenesis guy would get a better reception than T.O. on 161st Street.

On Friday, a different Post reporter witnessed a rash of scalper sales outside Gate 2 — several near police officers.

When the reporter was charged twice the face value of a $20 ticket, she complained to a cop, who was not sympathetic.

"That’s how they make their money," the cop said. "Next time . . . look at the ticket before you buy it."

Meanwhile, the team has gotten an injunction banishing StubHub to at least 1,500 feet from the stadium.

The Yankees — who are attempting to lower their payroll under the luxury tax threshold  — announced in December that they were severing ties with StubHub this year because the broker sells tickets with no guaranteed floor price, which the team says makes them too cheap.

The move discourages fans, who buy their tickets online and want to pick them up at a StubHub office, because they will have to travel an extra 12 blocks (nearly 1-1/4 miles roundtrip) to pick them up.

Yankee President Randy Levine said that there should be no double standard and that the state’s anti-scalping law will be universally enforced.

"Whoever it is, the law should be enforced," Levine said. "Starting tonight, we will make sure we do a better job enforcing that policy."

A spokesman for StubHub did not return calls to the Post for comment.