Anzac Day tickets still being sold for inflated prices despite new anti-scalping laws

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan says the league is doing “pretty well” to tackle the scalper scourge despite tickets to the Anzac Day blockbuster being sold for over $400.

Re-sold tickets for Anzac Day are being sold in packages.

A possible loophole in new anti-scalping laws is being used to offer AFL tickets worth $27— $75 for sale at $400-plus.

Next month’s Anzac Day clash between Essendon and Collingwood will be the first test of new laws introduced to stop scalpers ripping off fans.

Sales of tickets to the blockbuster event for more than 10 per cent above face value are banned. Breaches can incur fines of up to almost $500,000.

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But some secondary sale websites are thumbing their nose at the new rules.

One online site was yesterday selling tickets worth $27 for $185, $75 seats for $425, and standing-room tickets for $145.

Secondary site The Ticket Merchant offered “a ticket to the game as well as a voucher for a pre-game function’’.

Few details of the “function” were offered beyond an assertion that it would be “held in Richmond or a suburb walking distance to the ground’’.

More details were to be provided a week before the match.

New laws were brought in to stop ticket scalpers.

AFL Chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the AFL will work with authorities to remove over-priced tickets from the market.

“People can package these things up but largely, we work well with the government with this issue,” he told 3AW.

“There’s obviously the odd high demand game but we’ll continue to work with them, they’ve made advances, the government, and we thank them for it.

“I think generally it does work. clearly, if someone packages it up they can work around the system but i think we’ve done pretty well to deal with the issue of scalping generally.”

Supporters have been warned not to buy tickets from the secondary market. They might be fake, or have been cancelled by the AFL if resold at inflated prices in contravention of its terms.

Re-sold tickets for Anzac Day are being sold in packages.

Sports Minister Martin Pakula last night confirmed the State Government was looking into the matter.

“We’re already aware of these packages being listed for sale, and we’re working closely with the AFL to ensure that secondary ticket sellers comply with ticket scalping laws and ticketing terms and conditions,’’ he said.

“Any tickets sold as part of an unauthorised function package may risk being cancelled by the AFL.”

The AFL is investigating whether the deal breaches its strict ticketing terms and the “declared’’ status the Anzac Day match now carries under the Major Events Act.

General public tickets for this year’s Anzac Day game have already been sold.

AFL Fans’ Association president Gerry Eeman said the deal “sounds really suspicious … like a way of stepping around the law. It sounds like clever people have found a way to exploit a loophole”.

“And if it wasn’t, they would provide full details of what the function actually was,’’ Mr Eeman said.

The Herald Sun yesterday contacted Melbourne-based The Ticket Merchant for comment, but had not received a response by deadline.

Fans desperate for a ticket to the popular annual match were also being taken for a ride on sites such as Gumtree, where tickets were yesterday on sale for up to $600 each.

The general public ticket allocation for the April 25 showdown has been exhausted.

The next Anzac Day on-sale date through ticketek.com.au is on April 18.

The crowd at this year’s clash is expected to rival the huge 94,825 crowd at the classic drawn inaugural Anzac Day contest between the Bombers and Pies in 1995.

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