Loyal club members should be recognised with more Grand Final tickets, the AFL Fans Association says.
With the Grand Final back at the MCG for the first time since 2019, each competing club – Geelong and Sydney – will receive 17,000 tickets for its members, which the AFLFA says is not enough.
AFLFA president Cheryl Critchley says many club members paid their fees in 2020 and 2021, despite reduced access to games.
During the pandemic, they have also had to adjust to:
• a floating fixture that made it more difficult to attend games
• digital ticketing, which was necessarily complicated during the height of the pandemic
• health measures such as wearing masks at venues (which the AFLFA supported)
• concern about catching COVID-19 on public transport and at public venues.
Despite all this, most fans continued their club memberships. A record 1,190,671 signed up in 2022.
Between them, Geelong (71,943) and Sydney (55,394) have more than 127,000 members. But they will share just 34,000 Grand Final tickets.
If the AFL is serious about recognising the dedication of its fans, it must allocate competing club members more Grand Final tickets,” Cheryl says.
“Every year, some devoted club members miss out on seeing their team play after following them all year. Only 34,000 of Geelong and Sydney’s combined 127,000 members will be able to go.
“We call on the AFL to permanently redistribute a portion of corporate tickets to members of the competing clubs.
“While we appreciate that this is not possible in 2022 as those tickets are already sold, it should be considered moving forward.”
AFLFA membership is free, and fans are encouraged to join at www.aflfans.org.au.
More information: Email: media@aflfans.org.au.