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Outgoing AFL boss Gill McLachlan has declared that Thursday’s preliminary final between Collingwood and Melbourne could have sold out twice over, while rejecting criticisms of the finals’ ticketing system.
But the AFL Fans’ Association says the league’s ticketing arrangements are a “pot luck” system that needs improvement. It says some loyal fans missed out on seats for the match, despite logging on early, and were left devastated.
Collingwood and Melbourne will play in front of their biggest crowd since 1964 on Thursday, after reserved MCC member, AFL member and general public tickets sold out in a matter of hours.
The Pies recorded their largest membership base this season, announcing a tally of more than 100,000. The Demons have about 70,000 members.
Asked on Monday whether the current ticketing system was fit for purpose, McLachlan was adamant it was, emphasising the high demand had inevitably led to some fans being disappointed.
“Our brutal reality of our game is that we have so many members, so many supporters – and we have a huge venue. We could have sold 200,000 tickets to Thursday night. The game sold out in hours. Between Collingwood and Melbourne I think they’ve got 175,000 members, and there’s [only] a certain amount of seats [available].”
MCC tickets for the Thursday night game went on sale via Ticketek at 9am last Tuesday, but by 9.27am the Melbourne Cricket Club tweeted to inform members that visitor tickets had sold out.
Tickets for club members went on sale at 10am, and at noon reserved tickets became available for AFL members. By 12.42pm, the AFL announced there’d be no further tickets for AFL members and no opportunity for them to gain entry on the day without a pre-purchased ticket.
Allocated tickets for the general public were also quickly snapped up later on Tuesday afternoon.
“The demand for many, many games outstrips supply,” McLachlan said at the AFL’s official finals launch.
AFL Fan Association president Ron Issko described the system as “a bit of pot luck”.
“The ticket agency system needs improvement because some fans get the tickets they want quickly without any fuss, but a lot of fans don’t get the tickets they want, get on early [but] get worse seats than the people that get on later [who] end up getting better seats,” Issko said.
Issko said while the system wasn’t terrible, the association heard varied experiences from fans – devastated members who missed out on seats despite joining online queues early, and very happy fans who secured them without hassle.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a dog breakfast – that’s unfair. I would say that it needs improvement, so the fan experience is good all the time,” Issko said.
The Pies and Demons will face off at Thursday’s sold-out preliminary final match. Credit: Getty
“The view tends to be the same; if you get on quickly, areas tend to fully exhaust … The earlier you get on, the worse seats you get.
“Fans that get on early somehow get good seats, other fans that get on early get bad seats, and then there are fans that get on later getting great seats.”
Similar concerns were reported by fans purchasing tickets for this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, who complained that the lack of transparency about how seats were allocated meant many who rushed to get presale seats were stuck with obstructed views, away from the action.
The other long-running concern Issko outlined was the allocation of corporate seats for the grand final.
Asked what proportion of seats are allocated to corporates during finals, McLachlan said:
“In the opening games, very little. … [However] the grand final is slightly different – but for the finals in the first eight games, it’s all to members and GA [general admission] supporters. They all go on sale to members, and that’s the reality of it. It’s just demand outstrips supply.”
Each of the two competing clubs are allocated 17,000 seats for the grand final for their members – a combined 34,000 seats of the 100,000 available at the MCG.
Issko argued the clubs should receive a half the tickets, rather than the current one-third. The association has previously lobbied the AFL to increase allocation to the teams.
“Every year for the last 25 years, fans miss out on tickets. Fans miss out to the corporates and to the sponsors,” Issko said.
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