Super Bowl Get-in price currently over $10000 a ticket

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In order to "short" the market, a broker typically lists tickets in a generic section of the stadium and doesn't disclose exactly where the seats are until the Wednesday before the game, when sites such as StubHub and Vivid Seats require the brokers to choose exact seat locations or cancel the sale.

The idea for the brokers is to take money from ticket buyers when the tickets are at a higher price after the conference title games, then actually buy the tickets days later as the prices start to come down. The ease of the scheme caused more and more brokers to get in the game.

"Everyone in the business had seen that shorting had been the right move," said a broker who requested anonymity because his company is still short tickets. "For the last five years it had been that way. Everyone was sort of sketched out by Packers. That the ticket could cost a lot of money closer to the game. So the Seahawks win and everyone is undercutting each other just to be able to offer the lowest-price ticket available."

The confidence in the early market was buoyed by the fact Patriots fans haven't established themselves as the best travelers in recent Super Bowl games, probably because of the frequency with which the team has played in the game over the past decade and a half. But Seattle fans, who turned out in fewer numbers than expected in New York last year, ended up being an enormous draw this year.

Over the past weekend, the supply on ticket sites suddenly dwindled.

"A consolidation of supply this year has led to a handful of sellers being able to manipulate the market and make it nearly impossible for last-minute fans to go to the game," StubHub spokesman Glenn Lehrman said.

So on Sunday, brokers who still hadn't purchased their tickets, started buying tickets at more than $5,000 apiece, losing as much as $3,000 a seat just to save the integrity of their businesses, according to those on the buying and selling side, who spoke anonymously.

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