A Gelong fan flexes his muscles during the AFL Round 09 match between the Collingwood Magpies and the Geelong Cats at the MCG, Melbourne.
The AFL is often praised for how well it runs the game. However, they still have room for massive improvement when it comes to grand final ticket allocation.
The allocation of 27,000 tickets will see only a quarter of the MCG filled with certified members of the competing clubs. This is now becoming the loudest beat of the drum of discontent with the sport’s governing body.
We know that 60 percent of the AFL members allocation is reserved for club support members. There are also supporters of the competing clubs, who go corporately and are MCC members – but it’s not enough.
However, this problem is bigger than the AFL. The previous Victorian government brought in anti-scalping laws to eliminate fans selling their grand final tickets at inflated prices. These laws are great in principle, but as with many new laws that are supposed to make it fairer for all, they end up being poorly enforced and still allow for loopholes.
The loopholes are that the 15 non-competing clubs still get access to 1000 tickets each for which they package up and sell, including a breakfast and grand final ticket at a massive profit. These tickets generally can be obtained for $1200 or more each.
This is glorified scalping of the highest order yet, the government and AFL conveniently overlooks this. With the huge media rights deal, the AFL secured and the new distributions that the AFL are planning to offer each club there should be provision for covering the cost of these grand final packages in future years.
In most cases it is supporters of the competing clubs that buy these packages, therefore the tickets could be made available to the competing clubs’ members. Breakfasts could still be hosted as there would still be a market for those who want a feed and entertainment on the morning of the big game.
Supporters who have grand final tickets and want to sell them at face value through various auction sites have been pulled up by police, and that is unfair. Of course, not all are trying to sell them without making a bit of beer money on the side.
In a case opposite to the story in The Age on Tuesday, a friend of mine has been invited to go to the grand final corporately, but had already purchased a ticket through his right as an AFL member.
He would like nothing more than to sell his ticket for the face value he paid. However, in light of the knowledge that the AFL has cancelled the tickets of people who are on selling, why take the risk.
The AFL, by cancelling this seat, means that one extra person will not get the chance to go to a game that is already very difficult to go to. There is an argument to say that if people are willing to pay the price then so be it – so let there be an open market.
Ultimately, the AFL and police are targeting the wrong people. They should be targeting the clubs they give the tickets to, that do this on a yearly basis for their allotted batch of 1000 tickets, all for a very handy amount of beer money.
mds1970
Roar Guru
The clubs are able to make some tickets available for sponsors - a sponsorship package is much more lucrative for clubs if they can guarantee Grand Final tickets. The remaining tickets are packaged and sold as part of club functions. Those functions are major fundraisers for the clubs. Take them away and you'd leave a 7-figure shortfall in clubs' bottom lines - they'd need to increase their memberships by $50 each to compensate for that. And even if you took them away, there'd still be competing club members who miss out.
Kasey
Guest
What price do you put on keeping your fan base happy? There's no immutable law that says because something is incredibly popular and appears bulletproof in the eyes of the public, that give enough of the 2-fingered salute to your fans and it wont eventually have an impact.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
There's a valid argument that the AFL could reimburse the clubs $1 mill each and release around 10,000 tickets to the competing clubs.
stabpass
Guest
If's, buts, maybe's, the clubs bundle up the tickets with GF breakfasts, accomadation etc and sell them off for some real $$, do you think the clubs are just going to let the AFL take them back. It's the GF, you could have a 150k stadium and people would still be unhappy, probably only 3 to 4 games a year are real sellouts. If you are desperate enough to see the GF, you will find a way.
Kasey
Guest
Which doesn't explain why it still happens. If the AFL cared about the fans of the competing clubs, they'd 'buy back' the allocation so the other clubs didn't miss out on their revenue and assign them to the competing clubs memberships.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
I'd guess it goes back to a time when there was no such thing as theatre goers and you'd squash 110,000+ into the MCG.
Kasey
Guest
I don't get why non competing clubs even get a look in. Can anyone explain the rationale please?
The Cattery
Roar Guru
1,000 tickets for each non competing club, or 16,000 in total, that still only represents 16% of the total.
mds1970
Roar Guru
LOL Kasey. I like the way you're thinking......
Kasey
Guest
like kill them?, or eliminate their entitlement to tickets? The AFL is powerful, but I'm not sure they could get away with the first.
Tony
Guest
Eliminate MCC members & there could be enough for all members of the competing clubs
mds1970
Roar Guru
Personally I think the prices of those "legalised scalping" packages are ridiculous; but there appears to be a market of people who will pay them. What the AFL's packages do is keep those inflated profits in the game rather than lining the pockets of unauthorised scalpers.
Jack Russell
Roar Guru
What the Victorian government has done with their anti scalping law has eliminate, or at least vastly reduce, competition. When you reduce competition, prices go up. So the main beneficiaries are the AFL, and anyone else that is allowed to scalp tickets. The losers are the fans, who now have a far smaller pool of sellers to buy tickets from.
Boomshanka
Guest
Karma? http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/highpriced-ticket-packages-unsold-20110929-1kzd8.html
Football United
Guest
the fact that afl members can go even if it's not there team playing and that a cricket club even gets access to a grand final is a joke beyond belief. 40,000 to each clubs members and the afl can scavenge the rest off to corporate wankers.