Ticketek and the AFL have failed football fans once again with the latest bungle, writes Jon Ralph

EVERY. Single. Year. That is how often football fans are forced to deal with this ridiculous ticket farce. And it won’t be changing anytime soon, with Ticketek’s MCG contract recently extended. AFL fans deserves much better, writes JON RALPH.

TICKETEK — and by extension the AFL — has failed football fans again.

Here we are again, another finals series with fans desperate to buy tickets to see their sporting heroes and Ticketek goes into meltdown.

Last time we checked the AFL’s finals begin in September every single year.

Every.

Single.

Year.

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And yet fans are left waiting by their computers and phones, mad as hell as they fail to secure those golden tickets to what should be a series of cracking finals ahead.

After a morning of high farce, with the AFL’s clubs having to give supporters technical advice about how they might fluke their way through the system, ticket sales were finally shut down while Ticketek reset its system.

Only Ticketek’s computer boffins would know the exact problem and how it should be solved, but it seems we have learnt nothing from the Census-style dramas of past years.

Melbourne fans at the MCG in Round 23. Picture: AAP Images

If your ticketing system is so inadequate that you can’t deal with demand, then stagger the sales for games, or just don’t tender for a ticketing process you clearly aren’t capable of executing.

At least the public can vote with their feet in protest at the ridiculous situation unfolding in Canberra over the past week, deciding if they so choose to eject the rabble responsible.

Yet what will stick in the craw of most football fans is that Ticketek has just had its contract with the MCG extended as recently as the start of August.

Fans know they are being ripped off when they have to pay exorbitant fees and surcharges just to print off tickets on their home computers.

At least back when they used to line up in person to queue for tickets they knew the system was fair — the earlier you get there, the better your chances of securing the seat you want.

Today it was a lottery based on whether your website decided to process your request or spit it back out at you.

Surely the first question asked by the powers that be is whether they have worked hard enough to avoid exactly this kind of drama after so many similar episodes like this in recent years.

Sydney had to tweet its supporters that there was a “high volume of traffic” on the Ticketek site as if the ticket agency was somehow shocked to open ticket sales then be inundated with people trying to buy them.

The industry speculation is that Ticketek just doesn’t invest enough money in its technology to ensure a smooth buying process, instead using it to ensure it keeps clients like the MCG.

The MCC said in a press release announcing that extension that it looked forward to ways of enhancing the “fan experience” at the MCG.

The fan experience isn’t just rocking up at a stadium, it is being able to purchase tickets in a timely manner that doesn’t make you want to pick up your laptop and throw it at a wall.

The AFL has just announced record attendances, record membership and has a mouthwatering finals series about to unfold.

Richmond players celebrate a win with their fans. Picture: AAP Images

Yet the AFL shouldn’t take its fans for granted to believe they will continue to queue for hours on computers just to get their finals fix.

Especially for those who are considering whether or not to attend a Thursday final between Hawthorn and Richmond that is already poorly scheduled for those with kids or who live in country areas.

The AFL Commission is today locked up in a two-day meeting focusing on strategy and growing the game.

Yet Gillon McLachlan would be incandescent with rage to think that as they focus on rule changes and ways to improve football, the most fundamental aspect of fan experience — purchasing a ticket to it — was close to impossible for many fans today.

Five years in a row fans have had these kind of issues while attempting to buy finals tickets over the internet.

It should be Gillon McLachlan’s most urgent priority to fix this issue.

And yet given how little changes from year to year the suspicion is that no one cares too much about it as long as they get their cut from ticket sales while the fans lose again.

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Originally published as Ticketek and the AFL have failed football fans once again with the latest bungle, writes Jon Ralph