Ticket brokers getting hosed reselling Super Bowl tickets they didn't have

[mef730]

Couldn't happen to a more deserving group of guys.

Enjoy paying 8k for tickets that you sold for a quarter of the price...

http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2014/story/_/id/12247905/super-bowl-xlix-ticket-prices-rising-all-high-secondary-market

Why are these tickets so expensive?

Super Bowl XLIX tickets have a face value between $500 to $1,500, but the cheapest prices on the secondary market are hovering just above $8,000 as of Thursday morning.
The answer lies in what happens behind the scenes with ticket brokers, many of whom promise the tickets in advance figuring they'll be able to make a healthy profit as the event draws closer...

Mike

[sofutomygaha]

Those gentlemen should be praised for their American entrepreneurship. In fact, they should probably be granted 0% government loans to help them cover their losses.

[action781]

Haha.  Love the analogy.  It reminds so much of the derivative crisis.

It makes sense from stubhub's point of view.  The more transactions, the more commission they make.  This strategy of shorting alone probably nets them enough in additional commission that they themselves could make right to any customers who end up without tickets (not that it's their responsibility to do that).

I just went to stubhub right now and before it even lets you buy tickets, a message pops up talking about buying tickets in "zones".