soar

Mark Walter may be selling the Lakers, but the new owners plan to take a money-making page out of the Dodgers’ playbook nonetheless: Dump the ticket brokers and leverage control over the resale market to drive up the cost of a ticket.

As a result, the average price for a Lakers ticket could rise from $217 to $361 within the next two years, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing documents prepared for potential investors.

Thrive Eternal, the sports properties company run by incoming Lakers owner Joshua Kushner, declined to comment because the NBA has not yet approved the sale.

However, the $361 figure was intended to illustrate to potential investors how much incremental ticket revenue the Lakers could gain by booting the brokers, not to signal another immediate and steep price hike, according to a person familiar with the deal but not authorized to comment publicly about it.

In February, under Walter’s ownership, the Lakers announced significant increases in ticket prices for the 2026-27 season. No announcement has been made for seasons beyond then, but the investor presentation provides information on how prices have increased for NBA tickets across the league.

Sports teams often enjoyed long and beneficial relationships with brokers, who bought out blocks of season tickets. That guaranteed the teams with revenue, with brokers benefiting from a markup for popular games but taking the risk that tickets to less popular games would sell at a loss, or not at all.

Over the past decade, the Dodgers and other teams have kicked out the brokers and taken that risk themselves, with the aid of dynamic pricing: the constant raising or lowering of ticket prices based on real-time supply and demand. For the Dodgers, the worst tickets seldom fall to market rate, because the team would rather live with a few empty seats rather than condition fans to hold out for a lower price.

The Dodgers lead the major leagues in attendance, on pace to sell 4 million tickets for the second consecutive season. The Lakers played to 99.8% of capacity last season, according to ESPN. So the calculus is simple for both teams: Sell a $100 ticket to a broker, who would then sell it for $200; or cut out the broker, sell the ticket for $200, and pocket the $100 difference.

Kushner and former Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger agreed last month to buy controlling interest in the Lakers, at a $12.5-billion valuation. The world’s most valuable sports team, according to Sportico: the Dallas Cowboys, at $15.5 billion.

According to the Journal, the Thrive Eternal investor pitch projected that the Lakers could leverage increases in ticket prices, media rights, sponsorships and international growth to generate close to $600 million in annual profit by 2037, when the value of the franchise could reach $30 billion.

Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong holds a 4% stake in the Lakers. He is not selling his stake in the Lakers, his attorney told The Times last month, in part because “we believe they are still undervalued.”

RYANAIR warns the price of jet fuel could soar next summer – meaning the cost of flights could too.

The airline has warned that other competitor airlines could struggle to ‘survive’.

Conflict in Iran has caused jet fuel costs to climb due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and it will continue to affect holiday prices.

In a statement, Ryanair said: “If high oil prices continue through to S.27 (summer 2027), Ryanair believes short-haul airfares in Europe will increase materially to reflect higher oil prices as some less well-hedged competitors will struggle to maintain capacity or even survive this coming winter season.”

Ryanair said it currently hedges fuel (which means it pays a set price).

The airline added that 80 per cent of its jet fuel is hedged through March 2027 at about $67 (£50) a barrel.

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Currently the price of jet fuel is around $140 (£103) a barrel.

Ryanair isn’t the only airline to warn of higher costs on the horizon, easyJet has said the same.

Talking to The Times earlier this year, easyJet said it would increase minimum ticket prices of its winter 2026-27 flights “by two to three pounds” to offset higher costs and uncertainty around customer demand.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby also said he expects fares to keep rising into the first half of next year.

According to Reuters he said: “I think you’re going to still see gradual increases in fares. Not as big a jump as happened this year.”

When it comes to finding the cheapest flights right now – it’s best to use a comparison site.

Skyscanner is a great option for comparing the price of flights with various airlines – and it even have a price drop tool.

The feature claims to scour up to 80 billion prices a day and shows which destinations have seen flights that have dropped 20 per cent compared to the last week.

Google Flights is another search engine which compares flight prices and shows multiple airline options.

If you choose the ‘explore’ option, it can show the cheapest, direct flights across the world.

For even more hacks on when to fly, Expedia has put together a handy list on the cheapest days to fly – which is Friday.

Compared to travelling on a Saturday, jetting off the day before can save up to 18 per cent.

It also found that found that international travellers can save £93 on average by booking between 15 and 30 days ahead, instead of six months.

Where you fly from also makes a difference – some of the most expensive UK airports to fly from are London Heathrow, Humberside and Manchester..

For more hacks, head here.