Ticketek apologises after slow site angers AFL fans trying to buy finals tickets

THE blockbuster final between Richmond and Geelong at the MCG next week is officially a sellout, with the AFL confirming all tickets are sold.

Richmond fans are thrilled to secure a spot in the finals. Picture: Ian Currie

• ‘Excellent’ Ticketek brushes off fan fury
• How to get your AFL finals tickets

THE blockbuster final between Richmond and Geelong at the MCG next week is officially a sellout.

The AFL has confirmed all tickets to the highly anticipated qualifying final next Friday night have been sold.

“The general admission and AFL members tickets have been exhausted,’’ AFL spokesman Jay Allen said.

“A great sign from two passionate fans bases, nine days out from the match.’’

RESALE WEBSITES RIP OFF FOOTY FANS WITH INFLATED AFL FINALS TICKET PRICES

Even MCC members will struggle to get a seat with all 9000 reserved seats sold on Monday and about 13,000 walk-up passes to be handed to the first people in queue when gates open to the reserve.

Mr Allen said the only other hope fans without a ticket had of scoring a seat was if Richmond or Geelong handed any unused tickets back to the AFL

Richmond’s Dustin Martin at the round 23 clash between Geelong and Richmond. Picture: Michael Klein

“On Tuesday at 2pm all tickets that haven’t been utilised by the competing club allocations are released back to the general public,’’ he said.

“This will be communicated closer to the date.’’

AFL members feverishly clicked on the Ticketek website today to secure tickets to the four finals games with tickets to the Richmond and Geelong match selling out within hours.

Ticketek apologised to AFL members this morning via Twitter and Facebook after fans complained they could not get tickets.

“Apologies to AFL members for the slowness in the system earlier. Transactions are running through, we thank you for your patience,” the company Tweeted.

Ticketek Managing Director Cameron Hoy said last night that the experience of buying finals tickets “for the overwhelming majority of fans has been excellent”.

@Ticketek_AU WTF. I pay lots of money to have afl membership so that if team makes finals can go to game. Ticketek killed the dream.

— Chris Saunders (@CDSPIES) August 29, 2017

But footy members remain furious at Ticketek for the long queues, being booted out of the ticket line and for not staggering out tickets to the four finals games.

Fans have been trying every trick in the book to get tickets.

Tigers players secured the a finals spot. Picture: AAP

Tigers fans cheer on the players. Picture: Adam Trafford

Richmond Football Club members even switched their stripes just to secure seats to the clash after their seating was exhausted.

The club told fans yesterday via Twitter to enter Cats not Tigers after a fan was gutted tickets were sold out: “Try entering ‘CATS’ instead of ‘TIGERS’.”

Try entering 'CATS' instead of 'TIGERS'

— Richmond FC (@Richmond_FC) August 29, 2017

The fury was swift as tweeters criticised the club for taking up another team’s allocation.

Try entering 'CATS' instead of 'TIGERS'

— Richmond FC (@Richmond_FC) August 29, 2017

So you are condoning your supporters taking up another teams allocation are you?

— Brad Wiedmann (@_BWeed_) August 29, 2017

And Richmond Football Club kept the tips coming via Twitter: “Ticketing tip — if the @Ticketek_AU website is saying “Allocation Exhausted”, try another category or another bay. Keep searching”.

Ticketing tip - if the @Ticketek_AU website is saying "Allocation Exhausted", try another category or another bay. Keep searching 🔍🤞

— Richmond FC (@Richmond_FC) August 29, 2017

But gets worse for Tigers members who have struggled, or been unable to buy tickets via Ticketek this morning to the September 8 match — despite sales opening at 9am.

A Richmond fan told the Herald Sun “no one could get tickets for half an hour”.

“Then they must have reset the server or something because the event became ‘temporarily unavailable’ then a few minutes later it was working and tickets were finally being offered,” she said.

“I logged on at 8.58am and did not get one ticket offer until 9.30am.”

Loyal Richmond fans cheer on the team. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Tigers fans are desperate for tickets as the team last made a finals appearance in 2015, last won a final back in 2001 and last won a Premiership in 1980.

AFL members’ guest passes have been limited to two on level four in the AFL Reserve area, AFL Membership tweeted this morning.

Public tickets sold out for the Cats versus Tigers clash on Tuesday, but 12,900 tickets were still in play for the Port Adelaide-West Coast final on September 9.

Cats fans Stewart King, Jo King-Hudson, Emily and Jonathan Hudson will cheer on the Cats. Picture: Alan Barber

The Melbourne Cricket Ground tweeted last night that public tickets to the September 8 game are sold out with any unused club, AFL or function seats to go on sale via Ticketek on September 5.