Ticketmaster said it concluded Super Bowl XLIX up in both raw ticket sales and overall dollar volume by double-digit percentages on the NFL Ticket Exchange. The resale ticket marketplace, officially aligned with the league, operated differently than most other sites by requiring a ticket in hand before creating a sale listing. That rule precluded the short-selling common to the Super Bowl that also left many brokers scrambling to fill orders when minimum prices soared beyond $10,000 per seat in the days leading up to the game. Ticketmaster North America President Jared Smith said, “We will be up significantly. We think we showed once again there is a real difference between an affiliated market and unaffiliated one. Others will offer a money-back guarantee if the ticket isn’t good. But when you’ve already flown out there and are standing at the gate, money back really doesn’t do you as much good. You want to get in the game.” Smith called the historic price escalation and supply crunch for this year’s game a “perfect storm.” He said, “The potential was always there for a situation like this, and when all those market conditions come together like this, it really gets exacerbated" (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer).
WHAT GOES UP...: In Seattle, Geoff Baker notes many people's dreams of seeing the Seahawks and Patriots play Sunday were "dashed by the biggest ticket-shortage crisis" in Super Bowl history. Baker: "Accusations flew and lawsuits were threatened as tickets remained scarce and prices hovered above $10,000." Opinions vary as to what "caused the ticket shortage, which sent prices skyrocketing to record levels." That left brokers -- many of whom "had anticipated a price drop the week leading into the game -- forced to take huge financial losses or else fail to deliver promised tickets to customers." Many brokers in recent years "have engaged in 'short selling' ahead of a Super Bowl." They sell tickets to clients "before actually having them in hand, then buy them from suppliers the week of the Super Bowl when prices typically drop." But this year, the prices "never fell and the number of tickets for sale remained scarce." Brokers "quickly pointed a finger at the NFL, saying the league had intentionally delayed its distribution of tickets." The NFL keeps 25.2% of Super Bowl tickets "to distribute to whomever it wants." It also allots 17.5% of tickets "to each of the two teams playing," 5% to the host Cardinals, and 1.2% "to each of the 29 other clubs." Many of those tickets are "sold at face value" before ultimately getting re-sold to brokers who "depend on that supply." But brokers said that in many cases, players and sponsors "didn’t get this year’s tickets until a few days before the game" (SEATTLE TIMES, 2/2).
