Fans turned away, empty seats in Australian Open tech failure

You may be able to spot empty seats in John Cain Arena, but fans are still being turned away from the Australian Open stadium.

The virtual queue at John Cain Arena is broken again – meaning fans who didn’t get their hands on a limited number of wristbands in time are being turned away despite empty seats inside the Australian Open venue.

The virtual queue, which was introduced in 2024, allowed tennis fans with a night ground pass to scan a QR code to be added to a waitlist.

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When a seat became available inside the arena, they would get a text message and have 30 minutes to get there before someone else was given the spare seat instead.

The objective was to reduce physical queues and encourage fans to shop and eat around Melbourne Park while they waited.

However, on day three of the tournament on Tuesday afternoon, Australian Open staff were handing out wristbands at John Cain Arena because the system was broken.

Fans required this wristband on Tuesday night to get a seat in John Cain Arena.

Tennis goers were warned that the wristbands, which would give those with unreserved seats access to a seat, were limited and it was “first come first served”.

One man asked if he could get a wristband for his friend who was on the way, but was told the purple bands could only be given to those who were physically there in time.

By the time Australia’s Alexei Popyrin took the court on Tuesday evening, the wristbands had run out and people without them were turned away.

There were still empty seats dotted throughout the crowd, likely because those with wristbands could exit and enter the arena as many times as they liked.

The reserved seats were also not necessarily all filled.

People with unreserved seats needed a wristband to enter the arena. Picture: Adrian Dennis / AFP

While news.com.au heard staff who were distributing the wristbands earlier instruct attendees that they could leave the arena for only 30 minutes and be able to return, it appeared that time limit was not being enforced.

One man returning with drinks in his hands to watch Popyrin take on France’s Corentin Moutet told news.com.au he had popped out about three times already.

Another woman said they could essentially take as long as they liked for a toilet or snack break, making the wristbands extremely valuable.

News.com.au has contacted Tennis Australia for comment.

Australia’s Alexei Popyrin is taking on France’s Corentin Moutet. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

It is not the first time the virtual queue has failed.

The system was out of action on the first day of the tournament on Sunday due to a technical fault, but Tennis Australia had said the issue was resolved the same day.

There were 56,322 people who attended the Australian Open day session on Tuesday.

The day prior, an attendance record was set with 59,621 people turning up to Melbourne Park on Monday, breaking the previous first Monday attendance record of 51,293 – set last year.

Originally published as Fans turned away, empty seats in Australian Open tech failure