Australian Open officials urge fans to avoid buying tickets from scalpers
Australian Open officials have urged fans to steer clear of ticket scalpers after scores of dodgy passes were seized by authorities, with tickets to the men’s final advertised for up to $600 above face value.
Victoria
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Tennis fans have been urged to avoid buying tickets from scalpers after at least 49 dodgy passes being sold for inflated prices were seized by authorities.
Tickets to Sunday’s men’s final advertised for up to $600 above face value are among listings cancelled by state government inspectors in a bid to stop fans being fleeced by rip-off merchants.
It is illegal for anyone to sell a ticket to this month’s Australian Open for more than 10 per cent above the official retail price.
But touts trying to turn a profit at the expense of fans keen to watch the likes of Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka at Melbourne Park have snapped up reams of seats in a bit to illegally sell them for marked up prices online.
Figures obtained by the Herald Sun show there were 17 illegal listings for 41 illegal tickets in the first week of the “happy slam” alone.
That number had risen to 49 tickets torn up from 21 illegal lists on Thursday, with eBay and Facebook Marketplace the most common places scalpers were ripping off fans.
They included a men’s final seat worth $1100 being flogged for $1700 and night session tickets to Rod Laver Arena with a face value of $244 advertised for $325.
Day session passes to centre court on the popular middle Sunday of the event worth $354 were being sold for $400 each.
With seats to this weekend’s finals in demand, fans have been urged to only buy tickets from official sellers and that they risked having their pass cancelled or turned away at the gate if they bought scalped tickets.
Tourism and Sport Minister Steve Dimopoulos said Victorian major events such as the Australian Open were protected by strict state laws to protect fans being fleeced by scalpers.
“Our message to scalpers is clear – don’t jack up the ticket prices or you will be fined,’’ he said.
The F1 Grand Prix, AFL finals, Boxing Day Test and major concerts such as Taylor Swift’s sold out string of MCG shows last February are also protected by Victorian laws that deem them “declared events”.
Anyone caught trying to sell tickets for more than 10 per cent of face value can be fined between $908 and $545,220 for breaching the Major Events Act (2009).
Mr Dimopoulos said it was important “everyone pays a fair price for tickets’’.
It comes as contentions variable pricing at this year’s event has pushed up the cost of seats for Friday’s blockbuster Djokovic-Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner-Ben Shelton semi-finals.
The cheapest day session ticket to centre court was $269 on Thursday, with night session passes at least $399.
Ground passes which allow fans to access Melbourne Park and watch the match on big screens were available for $19 the night session.
The cheapest reserved seats to Sunday’s men’s final were $1899 on Ticketmaster, the official ticket agency of the Open.
Tickets to Saturday night’s women’s finals started at $429.
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