AFL finals price freeze: See the tickets that won’t cost you more

THE AFL will freeze prices on certain tickets at every ground in September — including the Grand Final. We reveal the seats for which you won’t have to fork out more cash.

EXCLUSIVE: THE AFL will freeze prices for all bottom-tier tickets at every ground in September — including for the Grand Final.

The cheapest ticket prices will remain at $35 for the first two weeks of the finals, $65 for the preliminary final, and $180 for the Grand Final.

But the prices for mid-tier seating tickets, including some Grand Final tickets, will lift by 1.5 per cent.

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The most expensive Grand Final ticket will remain at $410.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said on Wednesday the Grand Final was “without doubt one of the premier events on the global sporting calendar” and prices of its tickets stacked up when compared with those of other big world sporting events, such as gridiron’s Super Bowl and the ­National Basketball Association finals in the US.

The average Super Bowl ticket costs $2500 to $3000.

Two years ago, the AFL increased the allocation of Grand Final tickets for members of the competing clubs from 30,000 to 34,000, and it says it is continuing to work on ways to provide more.

As it stands, if Richmond were to reach the Grand Final again, more than 80,000 of its 100,000-plus members would have to try to get a Grand Final ticket from elsewhere, such as from corporate packages or from AFL or Melbourne Cricket Club membership.

This year will be the second year running that bottom-tier ticket prices have been frozen.

“To be able to freeze our entry-level and top-tier ticket price is an important part of our continued commitment to affordability,” McLachlan said.

The league won’t say exact­ly how many tickets are in each price bracket, but McLachlan told the Herald Sun on Wednesday that the league was honouring its promise to keep ticket prices as low as possible.

“We want all footy fans to be able to experience the atmosphere that the four weeks of matches bring,” he said.

The AFL will also admit all children for free to Round 23 games. Children have had free entry to Sunday games all year.

Earlier this year, the league locked in the playing of the Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground until 2057, guaranteeing the MCG 43 home-and-away games and 10 of the best 12 fixtures a year.

Kane Lambert salutes the crowd. . The 2017 AFL Grand Final between the Adelaide Crows and Richmond Tigers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground MCG. Fans stream into MCG. Picture: Jason Edwards

On current ladder positions, Richmond would host a qualifying final against Melbourne, and Hawthorn and Collingwood would host home elimination finals, all at the MCG.

Though the ladder positions could fluctuate wildly in the next three rounds, the MCG is confident that it will be the scene of a host of bumper finals matches.

For the Grand Final, the competing clubs’ members get 34,000 tickets; Melbourne Cricket Club members around 25,000; AFL members 16,000; AFL corporate sales 16,000; and Medallion Club members 5000. Non-competing clubs sell around 5000 tickets as part of corporate packages.

For the first time this year, all finals being held in Victoria will be subject to scalping regulations making it an offence to sell tickets for more than 10 per cent above their face value.

Anyone who does so is committing an offence under the Major Events Act 2009.

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