Members urged to help break the record

MCC boss Stuart Fox says every fan with a reserved seat must turn up at the MCG on Saturday if there is any hope of breaking the Richmond-Collingwood crowd figure.

The MCC is predicting a crowd of only 86,000 spectators at the Tigers-Pies blockbuster — 14,000 supporters short of full capacity.

Increasingly in sporting stadia, no-shows from reserved seats is an issue that means venues do not reach capacity.

The highest home-andaway attendance between the two clubs is 92,436 in Round 4, 1977, which seems unlikely to be beaten.

But Fox said yesterday any crowd of more than 90,000 at the 100,000-capacity MCC was a significant feat.

For a crowd of more than 90,000, the MCG needs a full MCC members’ reserve, a full AFL Members and for all reserved-seat ticket holders to show up.

The game is not a Class A game for the MCC, which means all provisional members as well as full members are able to attend.

“It would be great to think we can achieve the record, given good weather,” Fox said.

“No-show rates have become a significant issue and we hope the no-show rates decrease with this game.

“The weather looks good, so all going well, we can get 90,000.

“Our predictor is saying 86,000 but that can swing by up to 4000 spectators.”

All public tickets have sold out, with limited generaladmission and standing-room tickets available on the day.

A Richmond win would see it beating Melbourne’s record of 17 MCG wins in a row, achieved from Round 2, 1955 to Round 13, 1956.

Saturday is expected to be mostly cloudy and a top of 15C with a slight chance of a shower in the afternoon.

The Tigers this week hit 100,000 members, but some of those categories guarantee reserved seats that patrons don’t always use.

Depending on the member/ rival club split, MCG tenants can make up to $1 million in profit from a bumper crowd of up to 90,000.