AFL to freeze ticket prices for finals, Grand Final to rise
The final eight might not be settled, but the price you’ll pay for finals tickets is. It comes as the AFL finally acts to prevent the ticket website meltdowns that enraged fans last season.
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Footy fans are set for a finals win with the AFL to freeze the price of tickets to the first three weeks of September action and stagger on-sale dates to avoid computer crashes.
All qualifying, elimination, semi and preliminary finals tickets will remain at last year’s prices at every AFL ground in Australia.
The AFL will tomorrow announce every finals seat — from entry level admission to premium level two areas — will cost the same as last year.
The cheapest reserved seats for weeks one and two at the MCG will remain $35, with entry level week three preliminary finals tickets to remain $65.
But the price of all Grand Final tickets will rise by three per cent.
Last year Grand Final tickets ranged from $150 for standing or restricted view to prime seats at $410.
This year, tickets to that one day in September will range from $155 to $422.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the finals price freeze was designed to make footy as accessible as possible for fans.
“We are committed to ensuring finals footy remains within reach of all fans and enabling them to experience the atmosphere that the AFL Finals series brings,” he said.
“With a heavily contested season of competition so far and the top eight still to be determined, it’s important that fans can support their team in person throughout the finals.”
In another win for supporters, the AFL will change the way finals tickets go on sale online in a bid to avoid a repeat of last year’s frustrating website crashes under the weight of demand. Rather than putting different matches on sale at the same time, sales will this year be staggered across different days according to expected demand, in line with the finals fixture.
AFL Fans’ Association president Gerry Eeman said it was “really good news’’.
“Any freezing of prices is always going to be well received and the increase in Grand Final prices are pretty much in line with inflation so I think that’s acceptable,’’ he said.
“Of course we would like more of those Grand Final tickets to be available to real members instead of the packages sold to the highest bidder by the AFL to the non competing clubs.’’
It is the fourth year straight the AFL has frozen entry level prices for the first three weeks of finals but the first time costs will remain the same across all categories, at every venue.
The most expensive week one and two MCG seats will be $93 for adults and the priciest preliminary final ticket $187.
Mr McLachlan said Grand Final prices had increased by an average of 1.6 per cent since 2014.
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“We continually strive to preserve affordability of the game, to make way for as much of the community as possible,’’ he said.
Mr Eeman said staggering the on-sale times of finals tickets would also be well received by fans frozen out of ticket sites in recent years.
“Common sense prevails,’’ he said.
“That is good, practical thinking.’’
Match times and venues for the first week of the finals will be revealed on August 25, at the conclusion of round 23.
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