Pies’ promise to fans after AFL grand final ticket debacle
Collingwood officials have responded to fan fury over ticketing procedures for the AFL grand final. Photo: AAP
Collingwood and Ticketek are each pointing the finger at the other after some of the AFL club’s top-tier members were left outraged by the ticket allocation process for Saturday’s grand final against the Brisbane Lions.
The Magpies on Monday confirmed they will find seats for their 37 priority one members who did not select the standing room option during registration and therefore missed out in the ballot.
Collingwood members were split into priority one, two and three categories according to their level of membership.
Priority one members, who paid close to $1000 for their membership, were guaranteed access to grand final tickets but were unable to select the location or price category of their seats.
Other members who had credit cards charged on Sunday did not find out their ticket category until Monday morning.
Fans took to social media to vent their outrage. Among them was journalist Jacqui Felgate.
Felgate shared multiple messages to her Instagram from disgruntled members who had missed out on grand final tickets.
“This is so not fair and the system of Ticketek always seems to fail. As a 19-year club member, it’s really making me consider the loyalty of the club to their members,” one message read.
Collingwood CEO Craig Kelly also took aim at Ticketek over the bungle. He said anyone who was “a P1 member and were given a standing room ticket – that will be changed from standing room to an allocated seat”.
“I want to be clear, priority two (P2) and priority three (P3) members were not allocated tickets prior to P1. However, accessible requirement members were fulfilled yesterday,” he said.
“We call on Ticketek to improve their system so that the moment funds are taken out of bank accounts, tickets are released to members immediately.
“We have been informed that 700 members whose credit cards either failed or had insufficient funds are not at risk of losing their allocation.
“They will be contacted by Ticketek and the club this morning.”
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But a Ticketek spokesperson said the ticketing process for Saturday’s match was done in line with instructions from the AFL, Collingwood and the MCG “without issue”.
Kelly also took aim at the AFL over the number of tickets made available to the two competing clubs, which covers a total of up to 34,000 of the 100,024 available tickets at the MCG. Kelly said the Magpies’ allocation of 17,000 tickets was “far from enough for our most loyal members”.
“We know grand finals are a case of high demand and limited availability which is why we call on the AFL to increase competing club allocations from 17,000 to at least 20,000 tickets,” Kelly said.
“We want to assure all members that we are actively engaging with the AFL, MCC, Ticketek, and other stakeholders to push for changes and improve this system and access for our most dedicated members.”
Collingwood has the largest membership in the AFL, with more than 106,000 people signed up – almost twice as many as are members of the Brisbane Lions.
A live site will be set up at Collingwood’s AIA Centre training base for fans unable to attain grand final tickets.
Kelly said members would be charged $4 for tickets, plus Ticketek’s processing fee. Non-members can attend for $20.
“This week is all about our Collingwood community and our connection with our members and supporters and we look forward to embracing the week together,” Kelly said.
– with AAP
