Fully ticketed game has one third of the ground empty.

[lenny2013]

Geelong vs Carlton was 'fully ticketed'. The fans have told the AFL what they thought of this.

Lines outside the ground asking people to pay almost 50% extra to get into the game to stand, of course after missing the first quarter waiting in line.

AFL members missing the first quarter because they still have to line up for a FREE ticket with barcode to get in. (Dunno what is wrong with the barcode on their membership card).

Ticket booth operators not doing anything because they were 'corporate only' - well nobody was going to that booth after the game started - waste of resources.

THE ANSWER:

By all means encourage pre-purchase for games the AFL thinks will go close to full.
Even a small extra charge to secure a good/reasonable seat on a "first come first serve" basis can be justified.
In these sorts of games, remind fans that it may fill up and you may get rejected if you don't reserve a seat.
But come game day, when you clearly have sold bugger all pre-game, let people in FFS, don't have them line up to pay ~%50 premiuim for the privilige of missing the first quarter!

FWIW I went back to watch the 1st q at the Nixon (pub) last night, then jumped the turnstiles at q time. Fix it Gill.

Hey Kickazz,

I urge you and any other AFL members to write a e-mail to AFL membership services detailing the things that your not happy with and the solution you would like to see.

I did this a few weeks back and I received a phone call from a AFL membership services manager who I had a lengthy chat with and he mentioned very few people have officially complained in writing and thanked me for doing so, he is looking to compile some constructive feedback of what members want to help justify change in 2015 to help maintain/create more value for members.

So I urge Members to put their thoughts into writing if you want change in 2015.

 

[ChopChopDigDig]

You guys can laugh all you want at "poor old Norf", but every home game I go do there's no lines for the toilet, no lines for beer/pies (full strength most times too!) and I get a train seat on the trip in/out.

Now if only we didn't need 30k+ to make a single dollar from a game...

 

[3kicks3goals]

Hey Kickazz,

I urge you and any other AFL members to write a e-mail to AFL membership services detailing the things that your not happy with and the solution you would like to see.

I did this a few weeks back and I received a phone call from a AFL membership services manager who I had a lengthy chat with and he mentioned very few people have officially complained in writing and thanked me for doing so, he is looking to compile some constructive feedback of what members want to help justify change in 2015 to help maintain/create more value for members.

So I urge Members to put their thoughts into writing if you want change in 2015.

This. Same goes for clubs as well. The more actual evidence membership services can compile the stronger case they have to advocate for changes.

 

[Bennett.]

I think the AFL stopped giving a crap about what the fans think a long time ago.
As long as the dollars keep rolling in...

 

[Kwality]

Totally agree with this unfortunately the AFL's greed have left them with embarrassing situations such as these. Bring the prices back down and if a game is sold out aim to have the seats 90% full before the first bounce.

Who makes up the shortfall in money? The players? Your players?

 

[Richard Pryor]

Who makes up the shortfall in money? The players? Your players?

Clive Palmer.

 

[milhouse1]

Yeah the situation at Etihad sucks a bit. AFL membership is good for MCG matches, but things get difficult at Etihad- I went to the game Friday night- I knew there would be a big line to get tickets, so thought about buying a ticket online before hand- had a look and the cheapest I could get was $14 plus $7 booking fee- $21 didn't sound like a good deal for a game I had already "paid for". I ended up getting there about an hour early- and even though there was only two people in line in front of me it took almost 15 minutes to get my ticket- I can see why people who arrived later complained about missing the first quarter waiting in line. There needs to be a bit more common sense, and also the situation on level 2 need to be looked at, it is almost always about 80% empty.

 

[Mr Swan]

I have a silver AFL membership, am planning on going North vs Richmond tonight with some mates. I usually just scan my card at Etihad and walk in. What can i expect tonight?

 

[Kwality]

Clive Palmer.

You should find an outlet for your humour instead of masquerading as a funny footy fan, hell that's funny ....

 

[LeverPuller]

So is Queen's Birthday an "A" game? Would be bloody nice to know now.

 

[Modified Dog]

Genuine question. What's shitty about your fixtures?

How would you like it if Collingwood was drawn to play Carlton, Richmond and Essendon just once a year (and it was an away game)

Would that seem fair to you? Would you be doing cartwheels about having to buy a premium reserved seat for every game vs Carlton & Essendon at Etihad Stadium?


Hawthorn's last 8 games vs Carlton

• R13, 2014 - Away - MCG
• R12, 2013 - Away - Etihad
• R14, 2012 - Away - Etihad
• R22, 2011 - Away - Etihad
• R09, 2010 - Away - Etihad
• R06, 2009 - Home - MCG
• R22, 2008 - Away - Etihad
• R12, 2007 - Away - Etihad

Hawthorn's last 7 games vs Richmond

• R06, 2014 - Away - MCG
• R19, 2013 - Home - MCG
• R09, 2012 - Away - MCG
• R03, 2011 - Away - MCG
• R08, 2010 - Away - MCG
• R21, 2009 - Away - MCG
• R20, 2008 - Away - MCG

Hawthorn's last 3 games vs Essendon

• R02, 2014 - Away - Etihad
• R18, 2013 - Away - Etihad
• R18, 2012 - Away - Etihad

Gee, it would be nice to see Hawthorn play MCG games vs Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon and Richmond twice every year. Maybe if the AFL gave us that, then I'd feel less shitty about paying extra for fully-ticketed matches. Magpie fans get it pretty good, you know.

Don't get me started on Hawthorn being drawn to play all seven of the previous year's finalists from Rd 1 to Rd 7 in 2012, or being drawn to play Geelong and the other Top Four teams twice every year.

 

[milhouse1]

So is Queen's Birthday an "A" game? Would be bloody nice to know now.

Its a B game

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

The thing I hear about most on talkback radio in things like is that a club member is getting screwed by only paying a few bucks less to get in than a non-club member for ticketed games, or games where they've upgraded their membership to a seat. That doesn't sound right to me. For example, in the upcoming Geelong v Essendon game at Etihad, I've got a ticket on a Geelong membership ($14), a ticket on an AFL membership ($14) and three tickets for adult tickets ($36 each). That seems pretty reasonable to me, since they are good seats on the wing (aisle 37) on level 3. It might be a bit rich to make $14 the minimum for a member to upgrade to any seat at a ticketed match (I think there were cheaper seats available, but don't remember). But a saving of $22 for a club/AFL member to get a seat seams reasonable enough to me.

I just wonder with these ticketed games, whether they re-assess the pre-season prediction a week or two before the game. That might cause a few issues with members who had already purchased their tickets in anticipation of it being a fully ticketed game, but we don't need farcical situations where it looks like GA members shouldn't have had a problem just walking in. And not sure if this is how it works currently, but for anything below 'A' games, there should be some seats available to members for $0, as long as they get in early and get a ticket for the seat.

 

[lenny2013]

How would you like it if Collingwood was drawn to play Carlton, Richmond and Essendon just once a year (and it was an away game)

Would that seem fair to you? Would you be doing cartwheels about having to buy a premium reserved seat for every game vs Carlton & Essendon at Etihad Stadium?


Hawthorn's last 8 games vs Carlton

• R13, 2014 - Away - MCG
• R12, 2013 - Away - Etihad
• R14, 2012 - Away - Etihad
• R22, 2011 - Away - Etihad
• R09, 2010 - Away - Etihad
• R06, 2009 - Home - MCG
• R22, 2008 - Away - Etihad
• R12, 2007 - Away - Etihad

Hawthorn's last 7 games vs Richmond

• R06, 2014 - Away - MCG
• R19, 2013 - Home - MCG
• R09, 2012 - Away - MCG
• R03, 2011 - Away - MCG
• R08, 2010 - Away - MCG
• R21, 2009 - Away - MCG
• R20, 2008 - Away - MCG

Hawthorn's last 3 games vs Essendon

• R02, 2014 - Away - Etihad
• R18, 2013 - Away - Etihad
• R18, 2012 - Away - Etihad

Gee, it would be nice to see Hawthorn play MCG games vs Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon and Richmond twice every year. Maybe if the AFL gave us that, then I'd feel less shitty about paying extra for fully-ticketed matches. Magpie fans get it pretty good, you know.

Don't get me started on Hawthorn being drawn to play all seven of the previous year's finalists from Rd 1 to Rd 7 in 2012, or being drawn to play Geelong and the other Top Four teams twice every year.

That's your own clubs fault for selling your home games away to Tasmania.

BTW the fixture is constructed under a weighting formula based on where all the teams finished from the previous year to ensure the fixture is as even as possible, you should check the fixture rules out!

 

[lenny2013]

The thing I hear about most on talkback radio in things like is that a club member is getting screwed by only paying a few bucks less to get in than a non-club member for ticketed games, or games where they've upgraded their membership to a seat. That doesn't sound right to me. For example, in the upcoming Geelong v Essendon game at Etihad, I've got a ticket on a Geelong membership ($14), a ticket on an AFL membership ($14) and three tickets for adult tickets ($36 each). That seems pretty reasonable to me, since they are good seats on the wing (aisle 37) on level 3. It might be a bit rich to make $14 the minimum for a member to upgrade to any seat at a ticketed match (I think there were cheaper seats available, but don't remember). But a saving of $22 for a club/AFL member to get a seat seams reasonable enough to me.

It's not reasonable at all!. AFL members pay an annual membership fee of between $410-$540, by the time you factor in attending for example 11 ticketed games for the season paying the excessive ticket fees of $15.50( $8.50 reserve seat upgrade and $7.50 handling fee) your up for another $170 on top of your membership taking your yearly cost to approx. $580-$710.

You'd be better off financially not being a member and just attending the footy 11 times in the general public for $36.
$36 x 11 =$360 annually cost VS $580-$710 as a AFL member.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

It's not reasonable at all!. AFL members pay an annual membership fee of between $410-$540, by the time you factor in attending for example 11 ticketed games for the season paying the excessive ticket fees of $15.50( $8.50 reserve seat upgrade and $7.50 handling fee) your up for another $170 on top of your membership taking your yearly cost to approx. $580-$710.

You'd be better off financially not being a member and just attending the footy 11 times in the general public for $36.
$36 x 11 =$360 annually cost VS $580-$710 as a AFL member.

And when your team makes finals and the grand final? Or you just want to attend a grand final? I also imagine that good seats were available because I bought them with two member barcodes. If Joe Blow tried to get five tickets to Etihad without a barcode for $36 he'd probably be stuck behind the goals on level 3.

If you don't feel like you're getting value for money, vote with your feet. The waiting list isn't getting any shorter, because people are realising that being an AFL/MCC member is by far the best membership if you are keen to attend the grand final every year.

 

[Hawthorn United]

This just screams of the AFL wanting a bigger slice of the clubs members money. They don't get as much from the gate if only club members attend as they've paid their clubs already.

 

[blue harvest]

I have a silver AFL membership, am planning on going North vs Richmond tonight with some mates. I usually just scan my card at Etihad and walk in. What can i expect tonight?

It's not a fully ticketed 'reserved' game, so if the public part of the ground isn't full you can scan your card at the gate like you normally do.

Below is a list of all games for Etihad.
http://www.afl.com.au/tickets/venues/etihad

 

[blue harvest]

The thing I hear about most on talkback radio in things like is that a club member is getting screwed by only paying a few bucks less to get in than a non-club member for ticketed games, or games where they've upgraded their membership to a seat. That doesn't sound right to me. For example, in the upcoming Geelong v Essendon game at Etihad, I've got a ticket on a Geelong membership ($14), a ticket on an AFL membership ($14) and three tickets for adult tickets ($36 each). That seems pretty reasonable to me, since they are good seats on the wing (aisle 37) on level 3. It might be a bit rich to make $14 the minimum for a member to upgrade to any seat at a ticketed match (I think there were cheaper seats available, but don't remember). But a saving of $22 for a club/AFL member to get a seat seams reasonable enough to me.

I just wonder with these ticketed games, whether they re-assess the pre-season prediction a week or two before the game. That might cause a few issues with members who had already purchased their tickets in anticipation of it being a fully ticketed game, but we don't need farcical situations where it looks like GA members shouldn't have had a problem just walking in. And not sure if this is how it works currently, but for anything below 'A' games, there should be some seats available to members for $0, as long as they get in early and get a ticket for the seat.

Yep your observation about talkback radio is correct. Most of the comments on it are factually incorrect or grossly exagerated. People claiming all sorts of astronomical prices when in fact the seats they would have been sitting in before this new system now cost $8.50, not $30-$60.

On your second point, I think they need to do it in reverse. A game such as Cats V Carlton, leave it is a non fully ticketed game when the fixture comes out, and then re-assess a few weeks before and change it to fully ticketed if necessary. Most of the time it isn't necessary, they should just leave it up to individuals to decide whether to reserve a seat or risk walking up on the day.

 

[Richard Pryor]

You should find an outlet for your humour instead of masquerading as a funny footy fan, hell that's funny ....

Geeze, a simple **** you would have sufficed.

 

[vinhol]

Usually go to every game I can, chose not to go to this one. $16.50 extra with a membership just to sit level 3 behind the goals is bullshit when this match up has always had general admission available in the past.

yes me too AFL member but I chose to stay home on my warm couch and have a few beers

 

[vinhol]

Don't know why this was an A Reserved game when the corresponding fixture only drew 42k last year. No game should be fully ticketed IMO unless it is likely to sell out (such games tend to be limited to 2-3 a year at Etihad). Just another case of the AFL screwing over clubs and supporters at the expense of the almighty dollar, I guess.

Given the form both teams are in, 37,000-odd last night was nothing out of the ordinary. Simonds a better fit perhaps?

Would love a game at KP although it would be hard to get a ticket for Carlton fans

 

[vinhol]

Carlton home game would presumably make a bit of difference (why the league ever gives Geelong home Friday night games in Melbourne, I'll never know). But there's a fair chance that it would be offset, due to it (in all likelihood) being a dead rubber for Carlton, by that stage.

good point about Geelong home games on Friday nights could be a dead rubber for both

 

[TheWeapon]

Who makes up the shortfall in money? The players? Your players?

The fans will vote with their feet. Filled stadiums

 

[Damon_3388]

What exactly are people paying for with their memberships, if it's not actually providing them with fully-paid season ticket?