'It's an insult': Richmond fans rage over AFL grand final 'disgrace'
The president of the AFL Fans Association has called for the allocation of grand final tickets to teams not competing in the decider to be scrapped.
As is tradition for the AFL grand final, Richmond and GWS are both allocated just 17,000 tickets for members to scrap over in club ballots for the big day.
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However with Richmond having 103,000 members to the Giants’ 30,000, Tigers fans are up in arms.
The fact that non-competing clubs and corporate sponsors are also allocated a large chunk of tickets has also caused anger.
Fans Association president Gerry Eeman says more tickets need to be allocated to the clubs actually competing in the grand final, and less to those who aren’t.
"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," he said in a statement on Sunday.
“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."
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
Fans took to social media to vent, with some labelling it a ‘disgrace’.
40k tickets going to corporates. That number is a disgrace. It means the ground will be taken over by people who are not true supporters. These people will probably go to football once a year. The AFL is all about their pockets and treat the fans like crap
— Mark Taylor (@mtubby2008_mark) September 21, 2019
Should be uproar about the quantity of corporate tickets.
Why aren't hard questions put to the AFL, about this it's obscene.— 💧rod (@RodChapple) September 22, 2019
People are mad that @GWSGIANTS get the same allocation of @AFL Grand Final tickets as @Richmond_FC - 17,000 each. How about we be mad that there is only 34,000 tickets available to buy when the MCG holds 100,000?
— Cam & Dug (@SeeArePe) September 22, 2019
Whatever happens in this year’s grand final, I join with everyone else in the fervent hope that there’s enough room for all the AFL’s corporate partners, affiliates and random freeloaders to get a ticket.
— Leaping Larry L (@LeapingLarryL) September 22, 2019
@afl ticketing update for grand final. GWS members that did not register for the ballot have tickets on sale through @ticketek tomorrow. Does not seem like a level playing field between competing clubs
— mark d (@markdbdavey) September 22, 2019
Fans fume as tickets ‘disappear’
On Sunday the AFL confirmed that unused tickets from the GWS allocation would be offered to Richmond.
Meanwhile, thousands of Richmond fans guaranteed a ticket as part of their membership package were left in the dark on Sunday when confirmation of their seats disappeared from the Ticketek website.
On Saturday, thousands of fans received confirmation of their seats, but the transaction records disappeared just a few hours later.
"Payment was processed over the weekend but allocation is being released tomorrow, please check back then," Ticketek tweeted in response to fan backlash.
Richmond member and AFL Fans Association vice-president Cheryl Critchley was among the fans affected.
After our Grand Final seat details appeared on our @Ticketek_AU history yesterday, they have disappeared.
I’m also hearing this has happened to others. What is going on?
Can they legally change our seats after allocating them?
This needs to be clarified.#AFLTigersGiants #AFLGF— Cheryl Critchley (@CherylCritchley) September 21, 2019
credit card charges may appear on the 21st or 22nd of September. Members will be able to see if they were successful or unsuccessful on the Ticketek website from Monday 23 September
— Ticketek Australia (@Ticketek_AU) September 22, 2019
Ms Critchley said it was an “anxious” dilemma for fans, many of whom had already booked flights and accommodation.