The price of Australian Football League finals tickets has been frozen, "meaning the base entry cost for one of Australia's premier annual sporting events will be unchanged" -- at A$180 ($128) for an adult -- for three consecutive years, according to Samantha Lane of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan "forecast the fan-friendly announcement in the afterglow" of brokering a record A$2.5B ($1.7B) broadcasting deal. McLachlan "wanted admission prices to remain the same" for the '16 season, and urged clubs not to over-inflate the cost of '16 membership packages. On Wednesday, McLachlan confirmed that he had "had his finals wish approved and that the base level pricing would remain unchanged from 2013 rates." The base admission for every AFL game "is set by the league, but clubs control additional costs for perks like reserved seating" (SMH, 8/26). In a separate piece, Lane wrote after the AFL announced the freeze, "we checked out how they stack up." The National Rugby League's new, and cheaper, grand final tickets pre-sale price for the general public is A$65 ($46), again "considerably cheaper than the AFL's base entry." An adult category C reserved seat for the May A-League grand final cost A$70 ($49) -- more than A$100 ($71) cheaper "than the cheapest reserved adult seat for the AFL grand final." A seat at grand slam tennis -- particularly the men's singles final at the Australian Open -- "is comparable to the cost of the cheapest reserved seat at the Australian grand prix:" A$395 ($281) and A$330 ($234), respectively. Cricket fans "can take their seats at the Boxing Day Test, played annually at the MCG," for a comparative steal of about A$45 ($32) (SMH, 8/26).
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| Source: AFL |
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| Source: SMH |
