Tickets for The International 2024 went on sale today after a reveal a few days ago and the prices are astronomical. With each day costing 1606,66 DKK ($231 USD) in the three-day package, With a 10 DKK admin fee, and a total cost of 4829,98 DKK, or $696.39 USD, the price has dwarfed the cost almost any other esports event in recent memory.

The International is Dota 2’s most prestigious event, so a high price point is perhaps expected. But with TI now a minimum thousand dollar or more investment when travel and accommodation are factored in, are Valve and other organizers pricing out fans? 

Are they instead aiming their most important tournaments at those with business interests or unusually high amounts of disposable income? Let’s look at the numbers.

The price rise of TI – TI 2024 Tickets Price

Over the past five years, the ticket price for The International has ballooned from reasonable to absolutely impossibly expensive for most. If we start at TI9 in Shanghai, prices for tickets were around $70 for playoff stage tickets, to $300 for the Finals weekend. For TI10 in Bucharest, with canceled and refunded attendance, the price for finals was $236. 

The first huge jump comes for Singapore in 2022. The price for those tickets were 498 SGD ($360 USD) for finals days, with 88 SGD ($60) for single day entry to the playoffs. This represents a huge jump in price, one that at the time was chalked up to the venue in Singapore, a country known for its high prices.

However, returning to Seattle in 2023, the high prices continued. This time there was a truly incredible jump in price to $699 USD for finals weekend. At double the price when administrative fees were included, it was a truly ludicrous price rise.

So when this year the price again hit almost $700, there was some disgust at the new norm. Community members such as former EG player and CEO Peter “ppd” Dager and Dota 2 observer superstar Jonathan “PimpmuckL” Liebig expressed their shock at the prices, with the latter commenting that the price seemed focused on those with business interests:

“650€ is just absurd because anyone with a business interest doesn’t give two fucks about spending that. 

But fans can’t fork that over.”

Or can they?

But are Dota 2 players really penniless purse-pinchers who can’t afford a few hundred dollars? Remember, this is the same fanbase that’s known for dropping stupendous amounts of money on battle passes and cosmetics. The group that has sometimes been identified as the most spoilt fan base in esports. So maybe the price complaints are just another gripe from a fan base that wants everything for nothing, even the esports events for their free game.

Beyond that, a TI ticket isn’t just entry to watch the games. One hidden reward with the tickets is the Treasure of the Crimson Witness. For those who don’t know, anyone who attends a TI in-person and sees a first blood kill has the chance to receive a Treasure of the Crimson Witness. This treasure is so exclusive that it frequently sells on the Steam marketplace for upwards of $250. 

Given there’s dozens of first bloods at TI, that’s dozens of chances to receive hundreds of dollars of in-game items. Selling two Treasure of the Crimson Witness would easily net you a full Steam Deck. Or just hundreds of dollars of games. So in a genuinely serious way, attending TI could mean securing hundreds of dollars of currency on Steam.

Is Valve including the potential for a Treasure of the Crimson Witness with the price of admission? It’s very likely. Additionally, Valve is pretty generous with attendees. Last year, for example, every Finals attendee received a Dota 2 drawstring bag, attendees pin, bookmarks, collectable passes, a lanyard, and a Figma action figure. In 2022, it was a tote bag, pins, webcam protector, in-game item code, attendees pin, mouse mat, key caps, and more. These items on their own might retail for almost a hundred dollars, and definitely do on the resale market.

So with the price of admission, you’re getting hundreds of dollars of swag, potentially hundreds of dollars of virtual items that can be traded for games or even console hardware, and you get to watch The International Live. The price of admission starts to make a little more sense when you look at this. But is it enough? And do these premium additions justify the costs?

Still too much

Considering that TI is the biggest and most important tournament of the year, it seems like Valve and other tournament organizers are focused on making sure content creators, business partners, etc. are able to make the event, but not conventional fans. 

Of the major Dota 2 events this year, only one of them, ESL One Birmingham, has had an offline audience. Given that the other largest Dota 2 event of the year, at the Esports World Cup will be at the perhaps equally expensive location of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (and fans may have other reasons to be reluctant to travel there) it seems that if you’re just an average Dota 2 player, you’re out of luck for seeing Dota 2 esports live. 

Beyond that huge amounts of Dota 2 fans are based in Southeast Asia and South America, and were ecstatic at having events they could attend in previous years, such as the TI in Shanghai and Singapore, or the Lima Major in Peru. That option isn’t likely feasible for trips to Europe, where travel costs will run into the thousands alone.

I’m not advocating that Valve slash the prices of its TI 2024 tickets. Or take out the goodies and Crimson Witness treasures to cut costs. I just think live events are one of the few things that makes the sometimes murky and controversial world of esports worth being a part of. It’s a chance to meet like-minded individuals and celebrate the game you’ve spent thousands of hours playing. And with prices so high and live events thin on the ground, less and less people will get to experience that.