The brokers are just there as a financial service. If brokers are able to profit, then the team is offering them first to the public at a lower value, which is actually an overall higher value to the team. Think of merchandising, the aforementioned crowd support, the overall increased interest and revenue as well as income diversification.
In that light, the team realizes a greater overall financial benefit from the initially lower profit margin, they are naturally incentivized to sell as many tickets directly to the public as possible, and it is rather difficult to fault either the team or the broker - who acts as a financial buffer to the team.
It really is just a reflection of the current demand for the product in that market, which I guess is a bit surprising to me, but as others have said, the team has been absent for 20 years, and with the advent of the new stadium, demand should increase for their product over time, and I would expect a consistent winning product overall under current management, current performance being more of a deviation of expected results.
In the meantime, it's kind of a nice that so many fans from other teams are supporting them financially. As we know, it can be more fun and an incentive to home town fans to visit the game when a rival comes to down bringing so many fans of their own.
It reminds me of the past, we didn't have a lot of disposable income for game, so we would prioritize nosebleed tickets for games where the Blues hosted the Hawks knowing well that they would outnumber us in the stands, increasing the opportunity for more fights in the stands and on the ice. The rivalry feeds off each other creating an even more entertaining product
