Super Bowl LIV is the highest ticket price in NFL history

MIAMI — In a moment that brokers across the secondary market spectrum predicted as early as Monday, Super Bowl LIV tickets reached the highest average price in NFL history on Friday morning.

According to fresh TicketIQ data, the total average of all Super Bowl LIV tickets spiked to an average of $10,385 at one point Friday. That represents the costliest peak for any game ticket in NFL history, surpassing the overall per-ticket average achieved for the Super Bowl XLIX matchup between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. Super Bowl XLIX saw ticket demand driven by speculators who miscalculated the market, booking an astronomical number of pre-sales that sent prices skyrocketing when demand significantly outstripped supply. Super Bowl LIV, on the other hand, has been driven by strong demand from both the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs fan bases — as well as a more closely regulated secondary market that has carefully released inventory and kept prices high.

“We’ve now passed [the] $10,000 average mark and the ‘get-in’ price [for the cheapest seats] is up 38 percent in the last 24 hours,” said TicketIQ founder Jesse Lawrence. “New all-time high price [and] lots of disappointed fans in Miami who expected prices to drop.”

Algunas lámparas cubren una porción del césped del Hard Rock Stadium de Miami Gardens, Florida, el martes 28 de enero de 2020, en anticipación al Super Bowl 54. (AP Foto/David J. Phillip)
Hard Rock Stadium is the site of Sunday's Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. (AP Foto/David J. Phillip)

Another significant driver of demand? The upper bowl “get in” seats — which are typically the easiest to move and most readily available for fans — began drying up in the middle of the week. It caused the cheapest prices to rise, leaving some fans to invest the extra bump in spending and buying some slightly more expensive seats in the lower bowl as well. Essentially, rising “get in” prices have been the tide that has lifted all boats and helped send the average per-ticket prices to levels never seen.

“One plus for fans still looking is that the price difference between lower level and upper level is very slim,” Lawrence said. “The cheapest ticket in lower level is just $300 more than the cheapest upper-level ticket.”

TicketIQ isn’t the only broker seeing high demand in the past 24 hours. TickPick reported that get-in prices jumped 35 percent from Thursday to Friday, as fans who were holding out on falling prices began to see the writing on the wall and made their purchases before the rise continued.

“Inventory has decreased 36 percent since [Thursday], so there is wild fluctuation as fans scramble for last-minute tickets,” said Ben Finfer, a TickPick spokesperson. “Meanwhile, the most expensive available seat, in the ’72 Club is currently listed for $49,000.”

More from Yahoo Sports