Patriot games: Broncos make it tough for Mass. residents to get tickets

New England Patriots fans looking to make the journey to Denver for Sunday's AFC Championship Game might have a tough time getting ahold of tickets.

The Denver Broncos will be limiting ticket sales for the game at Sports Authority Field to residents of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, South Dakota and western Kansas. Fans living elsewhere will still be able to find tickets, but they must purchase them through a secondary vendor such as StubHub or the NFL Ticket Exchange, likely at a considerable markup.

As of Monday morning, the cheapest tickets available on StubHub --  two seats in the upper deck --  were going for $387.80 apiece.

"It's our normal procedure for playoff games," Patrick Smythe, the Broncos' executive director for media relations, told Boston.com.

The Seattle Seahawks are employing a similar policy for NFC Championship Game tickets, though theirs is stirring up a bit more controversy. Tickets will be available for residents of Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Alaska, Hawaii, British Columbia and Alberta, but not California, home of the visiting San Francisco 49ers.