Clayton Kershaw’s final regular season start at Dodger Stadium sends ticket prices soaring – NBC Los Angeles

The news hit like a thunderclap across Los Angeles: Clayton Kershaw, the face of the Los Angeles Dodgers for nearly two decades, announced he will retire at the end of the 2025 season. 

Suddenly, with that one announcement, Friday night’s matchup between the Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants isn’t just another chapter in baseball’s oldest rivalry—it’s a farewell, a chance for fans to witness what could be the final pitch Kershaw ever throws at Dodger Stadium.

So naturally, ticket prices exploded.

According to Gametime, the leading app for last-minute tickets, the cost of admission to Friday’s game skyrocketed within hours of the announcement. The cheapest available seats are now listed at $201 each (taxes and fees included), while premium seats—those coveted spots behind home plate—are going for as much as $5,920 per ticket.

That’s not a typo. Nearly six thousand dollars for one single seat.

The surge was swift and dramatic. Prices doubled between the time Kershaw revealed his retirement plans around 2:00 PM PT. It was as if the entire baseball world rushed to get in the door at Chavez Ravine, knowing this moment will never come again.

For Dodger fans, this isn’t just about numbers on a resale site. This is about history. Kershaw has been more than a pitcher—he’s been a constant, a cornerstone, and for many, the beating heart of the Dodgers franchise for the last 18 years. From his three Cy Young Awards to his 2014 National League MVP Award, to his 2020 and 2024 World Series triumphs, his career has been a tapestry woven with dominance, heartbreak, redemption, and resilience.

Now, as he prepares for his final regular season start at home, the stakes feel both monumental and deeply personal. Fans aren’t buying tickets—they’re buying memories, an opportunity to say farewell to the greatest pitcher of a generation. They’re buying tickets for the chance to stand and applaud one last time as Kershaw tips his cap to the crowd. The chance to bring their kids and say, “I saw him pitch.”

The fact that the opponent happens to be the San Francisco Giants only adds to the weight of the occasion. One of baseball’s fiercest rivalries has always had a flair for drama, and on Friday night, the Giants will be forced to play supporting actors in Kershaw’s farewell show. The symbolism runs deep: a career spent battling San Francisco, ending with one final duel under the bright lights of Dodger Stadium.

The ticket surge is more than simple supply and demand—it’s the market recognizing a cultural event. Clayton Kershaw’s final start isn’t just another game; it’s another page written in baseball’s history books. Just as Derek Jeter’s farewell tour sent Yankees tickets soaring or Kobe Bryant’s final game pushed Lakers seats into the stratosphere, Kershaw’s last stand has transformed a late-September contest into a pilgrimage.

Fans across Los Angeles—and beyond—are scrambling to be part of it. For some, $201 is a small price to sit in the upper deck or the pavilion, just to say they were there for Kershaw’s final pitch thrown on the mound at Chavez Ravine. 

For others, dropping thousands for field-level seats feels like a worthy tribute to the man who defined Dodgers baseball for an entire generation.

For those still searching, tickets remain available on Gametime and other third-party ticket re-sellers for the September 19 showdown between the Dodgers and Giants at 7:10 PM PT. But with prices surging by the hour and demand unlikely to slow, every seat in Dodger Stadium is quickly transforming into a golden ticket.

When the sun finally sets over Chavez Ravine on Friday night, and Kershaw takes the mound in Dodger blue for perhaps the final time at home, it won’t matter if you’re in the top deck or sitting behind home plate. What will matter is being present, joining thousands of others in a standing ovation that says thank you—to a pitcher, to a leader, and to a legend who gave Los Angeles everything he had.

Because for Clayton Kershaw, this isn’t just the end of a season. It’s the end of an era in Dodgers baseball.