Joe Pinsker wrote about the business of speculating on Super Bowl tickets:

• About two weeks before the Super Bowl, prices of tickets on the secondary market (through sites like StubHub) usually drop around $900.
• Thus for the past few years speculators have sold tickets that they didn’t own two weeks before the event when prices are at their peak.
• The speculators then bought tickets on the secondary market to fulfill their orders once prices began to drop.
• This year, however, prices dramatically shot up to more than double their normal level as the event drew closer.
• It’s unclear why – it’s possible that those who own tickets are colluding to reduce supply and drive up prices.
• Sites like StubHub, meanwhile, are making a killing since they make a 25% commission on each Super Bowl ticket sold.
• Estimates suggest that up to 15% of Super Bowl tickets are bought through StubHub so the company will have made tens of millions of dollars due to Super Bowl XLIX

See an excellent chart, and read more about the tactic of shorting and how it is best used over here.

Source: The Atlantic