That’s the ticket: Cats fans’ finals scramble

A FOOTY finals ticketing frenzy will kick off today, with an onslaught of Cats fans set to head online with hopes of scoring seats for next Friday’s match.

Geelong will go head-tohead against the Pies in the AFL Qualifying Final, starting at 7.50pm on Friday, September 6, at the MCG.

The scramble for a seat starts today, with MCC Reserve visitor tickets and reserved seats available from 12pm via Ticketek in the first round of ticket sales.

Club member pre-sale tickets will be available from 9am tomorrow, while tickets for the general public will be on sale from 2pm.

The staggering of the finals ticket sales comes after the Ticketek website crashed during the release of the 2018 finals tickets last year, leaving supporters without seats.

AFL Fans Association president Gerry Eeman welcomed the move to stagger finals ticket sales.

“We applaud the AFL for acting after last year’s Ticketek debacle,” Mr Eeman said.

“For many fans who have followed their team all year, particularly long-serving members, obtaining finals tickets is a must. They should not have to worry about whether the system is going to crash.”

Geelong and Collingwood members will get the largest allocation of tickets with the first right to purchase. Remaining tickets will be released to the general public at a later date.

AFL spokesman Jay Allen said the Friday night clash was set to draw mega-crowds, being the largest match in the first week of the finals.

“Historically Geelong and Collingwood have drawn massive crowds to the MCG in both home-and-away and finals matches,” he said.

“In the two home finals Geelong have hosted Collingwood at the MCG (2007 and 2009) there were 98,002 (Friday night in 2007) and 87,258 (Saturday night in 2009) respectively. We expect another huge crowd for the only match in Victoria for week one of the finals.”

The average home-andaway crowd for Geelong hosting Collingwood at a home MCG final is 65,552.

Ticket prices for weeks one to three of the finals will match those of the 2018 series under the AFL’s price freeze scheme, with tickets starting from $35 for an adult entry-level reserved seat.

But the cost of Grand Final tickets have increased by 3 per cent, with entry-level ticketing starting at $155 this yer.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan last week said the price freeze was a decision made to honour the AFL’s obligation to making footy accessible for everyone.