How to get a grand final ticket, and why there’s no public sale

You’ve got to work hard to get into an AFL grand final – even if you’re a supporter.

Chris Walkley, a 54-year-old Fitzroy-turned-Brisbane Lions fan, fought for his spot at the front of the Ticketek outlet in Melbourne’s CBD. He arrived at 6am on Thursday with a camp chair, swag, and hope that his team would win their way through to another decider.

Niamh, Chris and Cazz Walkley queue for AFL grand final tickets on Monday morning.Credit: Simon Schluter

“My dad and a couple of his friends came down and helped out during a couple of days, so I could come home and have a shower and freshen up,” Walkley said after securing five tickets on Monday morning. “But pretty much since Thursday, I’ve been living on Exhibition Street, sleeping in a swag.”

With a friend to hold his spot, Walkley still managed to get to the MCG last Saturday to watch the Lions’ heart-stopping preliminary final win.

When he returned to sleep on Exhibition Street: “I was that emotionally drained and exhausted, I tried to watch the replay on the phone, and fell asleep within about five minutes. I got about nine hours of sleep straight.”

But had the Lions missed out, he would’ve probably stayed in line, having queued like this for grand final tickets for about 20 years.

Niamh and father Chris Walkley successfully getting tickets after being in the queue outside Ticketek Credit: Simon Schluter

“The swag’s actually reasonably comfortable and keeps you warm, which is great,” Walkley said. “It’s just a lot of delivery trucks and things like that around 4.30 in the morning around the city start arcing up.”

Walkley – who bought his tickets alongside wife Cazz, 46, and daughter Niamh, 8 – said getting great seats on centre-wing made the long wait to buy at a brick-and-mortar shop worthwhile.

“It takes pot luck out of it,” he said. “I sat through the Taylor Swift debacle for my daughter and had about 2½ days online watching that line going around. I mean, we finally got tickets, but the stress and everything was just not worth it.”

Had he somehow missed out on grand final tickets, Walkley admits he “would’ve begged, borrowed, [stole] – done what I had to do to get a ticket in the end.”

The MCG has a capacity of 100,024, but grand final tickets don’t go on sale to the general public. A club affiliation or a hook-up via the league, sponsors or broadcasters is required.

The largest ticket share goes to members of the competing teams, the AFL, the Melbourne Cricket Club and other club members who pay for the right to buy guaranteed tickets. This year, the AFL transferred around 1000 tickets from its corporate allotment to the competing clubs.

The Walkley family took five of the 15,500 tickets allocated to AFL members.

Sydney Swans members found out on Saturday if they got one of the 17,500 tickets allotted to the club. Brisbane Lions members had ballots drawn on Sunday to distribute their 17,500 tickets.

The Lions reported a membership of 63,268 this season while the Swans reported 72,746 members. A modest percentage would have premium memberships with guaranteed grand final tickets, but most wouldn’t, and there were already Swans fans expressing their sadness at missing a ticket on Sunday.

All told, different membership bodies take about 75,000 tickets or so. The remaining 25,000 or so tickets are shared between AFL clubs, sponsors and broadcast partners with the smallest percentage offered for premium corporate packages. How those groups use their tickets is up to them but, any ticket giveaway promotions have to be approved by the AFL.

MCC members

Not all MCC members receive grand final tickets, only those from certain categories get that privilege of filling their allotment of 14,500 or so. Unsurprisingly, there are no visitor passes either.

Full members or annual guest cardholders are eligible for the secret ballot, which was conducted earlier in September.

Those members guaranteed tickets still had to join the ballot to receive their seat. On Saturday, members need up-to-date membership cards and renewal details, along with their tickets to be allowed entry.

The key dates this week

The 2024 AFL Footy Festival set up outside the MCG will be officially opened on Wednesday morning and remain open through to Saturday at 10pm AEST.

The grand final parade returns on Friday at 10.30am AEST with all the players being driven on a parade route starting at Melbourne Park Oval and progressing through Melbourne Park precinct to Birrarung Marr, over the walk bridge and into the MCG Yarra Park precinct, finishing at the AFL’s Footy Festival.

The 2024 AFL grand final parade route.Credit: AFL

The Swans will have a live site at the SCG on grand final day, with fans advised to check the club website and channels for information. The Lions were still finalising their plans on Sunday but will announce them soon.

The first bounce for the AFL grand final is set for 2.30pm AEST on Saturday.

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