Collingwood past players’ grand final ticket warning

As the hunt for tickets to the AFL Grand Final intensifies, Collingwood’s past players have been given some “difficult” news.

Collingwood’s past players are being warned they may miss out on grand final seats amid a mad scramble for tickets.

A series of emails have been sent by the Pies to its past players, as the hunt for tickets intensifies.

But the Brisbane Lions had to send out an email offering extra tickets to its members on Tuesday after failing to sell out its allocation of 17,000 seats.

An email sent by Collingwood premiership player Gavin Crosisca earlier this week warned former players were the latest group to be hit by the ticket drought.

“This is a very difficult email to send because we have had an overflow of ticket requests this week that we will not be able to accommodate,” the email said.

“I want to apologise to everyone who misses out, it is very disappointing and as a result of a limited number of tickets given to us by the AFL and then the Ticketek balls up has added to the dilemma.

“The club is still working on the AFL to release more tickets for our club so if any of those become available we will let you know.”

Collingwood has warned its past players they may miss out on a grand final ticket because of a 30 per cent cut in their allocation this week.

The Brisbane Lions sent members an email advising of extra available tickets on Tuesday, September 26

A second email was sent on Tuesday night, encouraging players to apply by 7pm on Wednesday for tickets.

A third email was sent on Wednesday, warning that players may be left with standing room seats only.

“As you could imagine it is pretty hectic over here. We are still working through the ticketing situation and will be back to you as soon as we can,” the email said.

“We have received many applications, so we are doing our best to ensure we facilitate all requests by eligible Past Players.

“To ensure no surprises for you, there may be some players who receive a standing room ticket (cost of $155) if all our seated options are exhausted.”

Collingwood members were furious at Ticketek’s allocation of seats on the weekend for those who had paid for $1000 memberships to guarantee them a spot at the grand final.

Some of those missed out on tickets because they had ticked “no standing room” tickets on their application, which was all that were made available.

Other members who had paid for the top dollar memberships to get premium tickets were left with obstructed views.

Collingwood also confirmed all Priority One Members given standing room tickets by Ticketek will have a seat for the game, as well as those who missed out in the allocation.

“P1 Members who initially missed out on a ticket through the ballot have been issued a seat for the game,” the club said.

Collingwood fans cheer on their team at a training session at Olympic Park, Melbourne, ahead of the 2023 AFL grand final. Picture: Michael Klein.

Collingwood was allocated 17,000 tickets for members, with Brisbane getting the same number, out of the 100,024 tickets for the game.

AFL members get 15,500 seats, while Melbourne Cricket Club members share 22,500 seats.

The AFL also sells 7500 corporate tickets for up to $5000 each, including meals and drinks packages, with sponsors sharing another 5000 tickets.

Rob Revis, managing director at AFL official corporate experience seller Ticketblaster, said there may be some packages available later in the week.

He urged people to join a waiting list in case people returned their tickets. Mr Revis warned against people buying tickets on Facebook or Gumtree, with scalping banned for the AFL grand final.

“It’s illegal and the tickets probably don’t work,” he said.

Collingwood chief executive Craig Kelly sent a letter to members this week saying the AFL’s allocation was “far from enough for our most loyal members”.

The AFL said clubs allocate tickets to past players.

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Originally published as Collingwood past players’ grand final ticket warning