PITTSBURGH—A federal judge in Pittsburgh has dismissed a lawsuit filed by four people who bought tickets to the February 2011 Super Bowl in Dallas, but had to watch the game on TV because the seats weren't properly installed in time for the game.

U.S. District Judge David Cercone dismissed the fraud claim saying the people who bought the tickets can't prove that the National Football League and the Dallas Cowboys—whose brand-new stadium hosted the game between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers—intended to defraud anyone.

The judge says the case is a contract dispute, but that the ticket holders can't pursue it in federal court because the combined valued of the tickets, travel and hotel costs doesn't exceed $75,000.

A separate trial for hundreds of other ticket holders is scheduled in Dallas in October.