Fans complain of wild prices, Ticketmaster issues for Australian NFL game
Updated ,first published
Tickets for the highly-anticipated first NFL game in Australia are nearly sold out but disappointed fans say they’ve had a long wait and complain about sky-high prices for restricted-view seats at the MCG.
The cheapest tickets, at $95 per person for standing room and $140 for the bottom row, sold out almost immediately on Ticketmaster on Wednesday for the 9/11 game, with many bettors complaining that they had almost no chance of getting them.
With general sales starting at 10 a.m., an Australian NFL fan told this imprint that the only seats left at 26 minutes were limited-viewing seats, priced between $560 and $630.
Pre-sale tickets for the game for MCC members and American Express card users went on sale last week and sold out in a short time.
Many fans on Wednesday said they experienced long lines and trouble navigating Ticketmaster’s system.
One fan told this masthead that the process was pretty seamless, and that they got in after waiting in line for 20 minutes, but were “kicked out after 30 seconds to a minute” when trying to make their purchase.
“I switched apps to message a friend and confirm the available options, and in the meantime the app refreshed and I lost my place in the purchase zone,” the fan said.
“It was extremely frustrating because the tickets were there and I didn’t do anything to refresh the page or close the page. It feels like a waste of time and an overall bad user experience. It’s especially bad considering the base cost for presale tickets is around $450.”
More than 151,000 people attended the September match at the MCG, according to NFL Australia, and thousands of commuters from interstate and regional areas are expected to travel to Melbourne.
In a statement made by a Victorian government spokesman, it was stated that Melbourne will soon become the first city in the world to host a tennis grand slam, a Formula 1 grand prix and an NFL regular season match.
“The NFL reaches a massive audience, with almost 19 million people tuning in every week, this is a huge opportunity to showcase Victoria,” the spokesman said.
“This will also be a huge boost for local businesses, keeping restaurants, cafes and hotels energized.”
But not everyone is a fan of this event.
Speaking at the annual NFL owners meeting recently in Phoenix, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan responded sarcastically when asked about the trip: “Oh, I’m so excited. That’s our goal; to go 19 hours away to play a game.”
An NFL Australia spokesman did not respond to questions about Shanahan’s comments but said sales were strong in the week one shootout.
“Ticket presales for Amex and MCC went extremely well last week, with both having high demand,” he said.
“We look forward to continuing the high level of interest today when general access tickets go on sale.”
This year’s AFL finals will kick off with a wild card round on the last weekend of August, meaning the Rams and 49ers’ regular season match will fall on semi-final weekend. Kick-off is scheduled for 10.35am (AEST), which will be prime time in the United States.
The MCG has in the past hosted exhibition football matches, NRL State of Origin matches and rugby union Bledisloe Cup matches during the AFL season and concerts in December 2022 ahead of the same year’s Boxing Day test.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports journalist and Formula 1 writer for The Age.Connect via email.
