Every Victorian Australian Football League club has been "empowered to rank their games according to popularity in a new style of variable ticketing" that the competition "hopes will help lift attendances in the game's heartland," according to Caroline Wilson of THE AGE. In a "major" policy shift by the AFL, the clubs will have the authority to "set their own reserved seating prices, with most Victorian teams dividing their home games into three categories." Most clubs are "understood to be charging a maximum" of A$65 ($50) for a premium seat at their most popular games. The final details of the scheme "were outlined to clubs late last month." While the "widely criticised" variable ticketing remains, the onus has now been "placed on clubs to set their ticket prices according to demand." The new ticketing policy has been "widely accepted by clubs in the belief it has been simplified." AFL side Richmond CEO Brendon Gale said, "We think it's a good thing. The system has been simplified, which is good for fans. It gives the clubs more control and it gives us a chance to work in advance with the ticketing office." The variable ticketing system introduced by the AFL last season "proved a public relations disaster" with former AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou conceding after the '14 corresponding Easter Monday game that his team "had to go back to the drawing board to simplify and rebrand the unpopular ticketing solution." While many clubs "remain skeptical" at the heavy cost of improving the atmosphere around their home games -- "the so-called 'match-day experience'" -- they have "largely applauded" the new ticketing system, which the AFL plans to roll out next week (THE AGE, 3/12).
