Taylor Swift ticket scramble returns as AFL Gather Round goes on sale

Thousands of footy fans are back in the Ticketek hell they remember from the Taylor Swift swarm, writes Paul Starick.

Thousands of AFL fans are making a semi-nostalgic return to Ticketek’s lounge, again enduring the spinning wheel that plagued so many during the quest for Taylor Swift concert tickets.

The biggest show to hit Adelaide in decades, the AFL Gather Round, has gone on sale from noon, in a priority period for AFL club members, ahead of a general public sale starting at noon on Tuesday.

This time, at least for my family, the battle was to watch Taylor Walker and other AFL stars in as the footy carnival rolls into town.

Using membership barcodes, people are able to get a free ticket either on the beloved Adelaide Oval Hill or in a category three reserve area, or upgrade to better-located reserved seats or a hospitality package.

Adelaide Crows fans celebrate thrashing Carlton during the AFL Gather Round match at Adelaide Oval on April 13. Picture: Phil Hillyard

My extended family of Adelaide Crows fanatics loved the inaugural Gather Round so much that my mother is postponing a milestone birthday party until Gather Round week, preventing people having to travel twice for crucial events.

This meant I was nominated to buy seven four-day Gather Round passes for Adelaide Oval – thankfully discounted for club members but still involving complex financial exchanges more familiar to an AFL club list manager trying to sneak in under the salary cap.

Thankfully, my experiences with the Ticketek spinning wheel of death in the interminable waiting lounge have been fruitful.

Back on June 28, an estimated four million Australians temporarily forgot the cost-of-living crisis to fight it out for 450,000 Taylor Swift concert tickets.

Normal workdays were put on hold as multiple computer and phone screens were dedicated to the mostly fruitless quest to secure tickets for the US superstar’s Sydney and Melbourne shows.

Almost everyone at The Advertiser joined in – I was one of the few to secure the prized tickets for my daughter.

So, I was confident of snaring Gather Round tickets with little fuss.

I was prepared for the relatively complex ticketing system – all the necessary bar codes were organised on one document.

Even after logging in about five minutes before the virtual ticketing window opened at noon, I still had to wait about ten minutes to buy the seven tickets.

Judging from reader comments on The Advertiser’s Facebook page, many others were not so lucky.

Port Adelaide’s Zak Butters celebrates a late goal sealing the Power’s Gather Round win over the Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval on April 15. Picture: Michael Klein

Some waited an hour or so. One was timed out while paying.

One lucky woman, though, got in and out in six minutes, getting seats one row in front of her regular Oval spot.

A Ticketek spokesman on Wednesday said: “The demand for Gather Round tickets for the 2024 AFL season has grown significantly in the event’s second year, with demand up by over 130 per cent from 2023.

“During the pre-sale, we had over 20,000 customers in the Ticketek Lounge to purchase tickets for Gather Round. Customers spent on average six minutes in the lounge.

“The general public on sale commenced at 12pm ACDT today. Ticket sales peaked at just under 3000 tickets per minute, which is in line with the fastest AFL on sale to date, and consistent with the demand for recent touring artists Taylor Swift and Coldplay.”

Gather Round this year was an incredible success – and not just because the Crows thrashed Carlton in the round-opening match.

There was an amazing buzz around Adelaide as footy fans from across the country revelled in a celebration of our great game. 

Even those who don’t particularly like footy marvelled at the atmosphere.

It’s worth enduring the Ticketek spinning wheel if you can afford the tickets.

If not, or you’re not a footy fan, early April next year will be a great time to be.