Poor attendances ? AFL/clubs need to look at seating plans

[Pessimistic]

you just have to look at forums to see the discontent

example I saw today - you reserve a seat for a game which will possibly sell out and a few days later better seats at a cheaper price come online.

you ring up ticketmaster/ticketek to change and they add $15 plus foe the privilidge ot talking to someone.

The AFL cant wash their hands and blame ticketmaster THEY could fix it and their name is on the ticket.



Then you get the MCG closlwy approaching the tihad for seating policy - they should take down those 'people ground' signs because, frankly, they aren't any more.


They wonder why there's low crowds for unnattractive gmes when they use the same structure for a sellout game. they should be letting any AFL club memebers in for free for such as GC and GWS, at least let the punters occupy lower levels at GA prices when they are otherwise empty. the MCG is now as bad as Etihad in this respect

 

[Rob]

I think your underlying point is good, even if pricing in Victoria is a terrible way to illustrate it given how cheap tickets are there.

In England, most premier league teams have different prices for different opponents. There's no reason why we can't do the same here. For instance, a quick search for 1 ticket for Fremantle v GWS reveals:

Section 127
Row Q
Seat 5
Description
Price Category One
Reserved Seating in the Premium Gold Area
Type Adult
Ticket Price
AU $73.25 x 1
Really, $73 to watch GWS come over and get fustigated? It's criminal that they would charge the same price for the seat for this game as, say, a derby. It's not even that good a seat either, it's on the lower level in the sun on the outer side. This is exactly the sort of game that should have much cheaper tickets, if for no other reason than to fill seats.

 

[Pessimistic]

I take your point about Victoria vs more expensive places but for the big clubs now, much of levels 1 and 2 is club reserved seats and the rest is MCC AFL members

people are being sent upstairs when there is no real need

 

[Kwality]

I take your point about Victoria vs more expensive places but for the big clubs now, much of levels 1 and 2 is club reserved seats and the rest is MCC AFL members

people are being sent upstairs when there is no real need

Clubs need to address the reserved seating issue, sure they get the money for the seat but so many empty seats at sell out games, sure cause me to scratch my head.
I've never recovered from missing the 2006 GF (went in 2005) & seeing empty seats - I'd have paid black market prices.

 

[Rob]

I take your point about Victoria vs more expensive places but for the big clubs now, much of levels 1 and 2 is club reserved seats and the rest is MCC AFL members

people are being sent upstairs when there is no real need

Eh? You mean people that buy GA tickets not being able to access the reserved seating on levels 1 and 2? If they were able to, why on earth would anyone buy a reserved seat? The idea is that you get as many as possible buying reserved seats to maximise the returns to the home club. People paying $20 at the gate are the reason why some Victorian clubs can't make money from home games.

 

[Pessimistic]

OK but be happy with small crowds at unnatractive games.

Notice lots of reserved seats empty at footy park today, and in ther collingwood reserve

 

[Rob]

OK but be happy with small crowds at unnatractive games.

Notice lots of reserved seats empty at footy park today, and in ther collingwood reserve

What exactly are you proposing? Allowing GA people to come in and access other people's seats that they've already paid for? So if you go off to take a leak you could come back to find some scobe that's paid half as much for their ticket sitting in your seat? Or if you get held up in traffic you could lose your seat? That's never going to happen, because it's just going to piss people off. If your problem is reserved seat holders not showing up, then the only real solution is a seat resale scheme, but you can't force people to use it. I'd recommend that you to get used to it, because reserved seats is where the dollars are on match day. And most clubs know it.

If it's attendances you're worried about, more GA isn't going to do much. I doubt many people don't go because they can only sit in a certain section of the ground. I can understand why certain games they might discount tickets across the board, but it would be crazy to encourage more people to buy GA tickets. Clubs need to go the other way.

 

[HiReception]

If your problem is reserved seat holders not showing up, then the only real solution is a seat resale scheme, but you can't force people to use it.

They can't force them to do anything, but they can make it worth doing.

FC Barcelona is a good example of a straight-forward seat resale scheme - if a season ticket-holder can't make a game, they can "free their seat" online; not only is the seat then available to GA, but they get 50% of that seat's cost (assuming that seat is then bought), either in real money if they give 72 hours notice, or credit to renew the ticket the following season.


On the other hand, you have the NFL, which actually controls the "Black Market" of re-sales with the Ticket Exchange. Ticket holders can name their price (even above face value), and get the lot minus fees, again either as cash or Ticket Credit.

 

[wmvaux]

What they should do is reward those who book early and give them a discount and charge those who leave it to the last minute more. So if you book early you get 10% discount and if you buy on the day it's 10% more. Also for people with membership cards and reserved seats, if your not able to go to a game, you can let them know at least 48 hours prior to the game and you can get a 50% of the cost credited back to you and they can re-issue your seat... win win for everyone.

Also as I said in another post... I think they need to redo the fixture and have every team play each other once and then divide the ladder in to 3 sections... top 6, middle 6 and bottom 6 and the 6 teams in each group play all the teams from that group which makes up the last 5 Rounds of the home and away season. That way teams of a similar position play each other and there is less chances of blow outs, more competition and interest in the top 4 spots, same with 4th to 8th spots and the bottom 6 will have more even contests.

 

[EssendonNick]

Essendon members can make there reserved seat available online if they aren't attending.
But I assume a fair chunk just couldn't be bothered. Essendon are the worst, selling out Regrettihad with only 45k.
I actually didn't buy an Essendon membership for the sole reason that all the 11 game memberships were reserved seats memberships. I like to go to Essendon vs West Coast, with a mate who follows West Coast, or go see Essendon play the dogs with my mates who follows the dogs.