Gerry Eeman, the president of the AFL Fans Association, says the Grand Final ticket allocation is an “insult” to competing club members after the on-sale this weekend.
Eeman said more tickets should be allocated to the clubs actually competing in the Grand Final, and less to those who are not.
Traditionally, the AFL allocates 17,000 tickets to each competing member, which this year are Richmond Tigers and GWS GIANTS, to be put into a ballot.
Richmond currently has around 103,000 members, while the Giants have 30,000. That total number will vie for just 34,000 tickets.
Non-competing clubs and corporate sponsors are also allocated a large chunk of tickets, for the game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Saturday, September 28.
Actual Grand Final Ticket breakdowns for 2019, as contained in the AFLs 2019 AFL Grand FInal Ticket Scheme.https://t.co/Gqa2urTtS5 pic.twitter.com/xhxCE6uR9u
— sportsindustry (@footyindustryAU) September 22, 2019
Eeman said, according to Yahoo Sport Australia: “The Tigers and Giants have a combined 133,467 members who will share just 34,000 tickets – just a one in four chance of securing one.
“Thousands of tickets each year get allocated to non-competing clubs which in turn funnel many of these tickets into expensive packages.
“Simply put, the allocation to non-competing clubs must be scrapped. It’s an insult to members of the competing clubs who miss out each year.”
Fans took to Twitter to voice their anger over the ticket allocation policy that the AFL upholds each year, with one fan stating: “Should be uproar about the quantity of corporate tickets. Why aren’t the hard questions put to the AFL about this. It’s obscene.”
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