Thousands of Adelaide Crows fans to miss out on tickets to AFL Grand Final
ADELAIDE Crows fans will be nervously checking their inboxes on Monday to see if they are part of the lucky few to have won a golden ticket to the AFL Grand Final against Richmond.
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ADELAIDE Crows fans will be nervously checking their inboxes on Monday to see if they are part of the lucky few to have won a golden ticket to the AFL Grand Final against Richmond.
The Adelaide Football Club is expecting to receive 16,000 tickets for members who registered in a grand final ballot as scalpers seek to cash in on the blockbuster game.
Most will receive notification by email on Monday although some fans had money taken from bank accounts on Sunday night
It will leave many Crows’ fans hunting for other ways to be there to witness the club’s first premiership tilt since 1998.
Up to 25,000 Crows fans registered in last week’s ballot out of almost 73,000 members, according to club officials.
Of those, 12,000 were Gold and Legend members automatically eligible for a ticket — 80 per cent of those members took up the grand final option.
It means that 13,000 fans are scrambling for 4000 tickets.
Richmond receives a similar amount for its members but Tigers’ fans will outnumber Crows because it is expected to have more AFL and MCC members in its ranks.
On Sunday, tickets were fetching up to $3500 amid a last-minute panic for a seat.
With thousands of Crows and Tigers fans set to miss out on the big day, scalpers are exploiting a huge ticket demand.
One CraigsList seller was asking $14,000 for four tickets.
The Victorian Government, which like South Australia, bans the reselling of tickets to declared major events such as the AFL Grand Final, is investigating the price hikes.
AFL Fans Association president Gary Eeman criticised the ticketing process and said ordinary fans missed out on the biggest game of the year.
“Thousands of Adelaide and Richmond members who have followed their team through thick and thin will miss out because too many tickets end up in the hands of neutrals and corporates,” he said.
It is calling for competing club members to share 50,000 tickets with the increase taken from the 17,000 corporate allocation and other AFL clubs, who share about 7000.
This year, league officials increased the competing club ticket allocation from 15,000 each to 17,000 — 34,000 in total. Those thinking of going need to make travel arrangements quickly, a Qantas spokeswoman said last night.
The airline has already put on six extra flights. “Seats are still available, but we encourage customers to book as early as possible,” she said. The cheapest Qantas Melbourne-bound flight on Friday was last night retailing at $419.
Virgin has also increased capacity this week as most of the extra 2500 seats allocated to Adelaide-Melbourne flights.
Virgin still has one-way Melbourne fares from $454 on Friday, while Tiger Airways start at $459 and Jetstar $469.
Train officials added two carriages for the Overland, which is now sold out. The MCG capacity is 100,024.
The week ahead
MONDAY
■ 7pm: AFL Brownlow Medal live on Channel 7
WEDNESDAY
■ 9.30am: Crows open training session, Adelaide Oval
THURSDAY
■ 5.45pm: The final teams will be announced
FRIDAY
■ 11.30am-12.30pm: Toyota AFL Grand Final Parade from the Old Treasury Building to Yarra Park at the MCG
SATURDAY
■ 8.30am: Traditional North Melbourne Grand Final Breakfast
■ 8.30am: Game Day live on Channel 7
■ 2pm: The 2017 AFL Grand Final will be played at the MCG between Adelaide and Richmond
■ 5.30-7.30pm: Virgin Australia Premiership Party. MCG gates 4, 5 and 6.
MELBOURNE WEATHER
FRIDAY: 18C, Showers
SATURDAY: 16C, Cloudy
TICKETS
The lucky few will be notified today if they scored GF seats.