Fears that Sydney's Spotless Stadium would not be "big enough for the legions" of Australian Football League side Western Bulldogs fans at this Saturday's preliminary final against Greater Western Sydney "did not materialise," according to Cherny & Carmody of THE AGE. However Bulldogs President Peter Gordon's "wish to pack the stadium with red, white and blue has at least in part eventuated." The league said that 8,100 tickets "were purchased by Dogs members," with just 6,200 "accessed by the home-town Giants." The 4,600 tickets that "remained unsold after Giants, Bulldogs and ANZ Stadium members' priority windows ended went on sale" at 2pm on Monday, with 1,800 still available at the close of business. The league had "earlier defended its decision to schedule the game at the 24,000-seat venue, rather than at the larger SCG or ANZ Stadium." The rationale was that the Giants have "fewer than 16,000 members while historical data indicated no more than 8,000 fans would travel from Victoria for the match." The AFL said that 21,100 public tickets remained for the other preliminary final -- Friday night's clash between Geelong and Sydney at the MCG. The day was "not entirely drama free" for ticket-buyers, with "legalised scalping" and a "sluggish Ticketek website frustrating fans." While the most expensive tickets set by the league -- Category 1 adult seats -- were initially sold for A$179 ($135), tickets on the Ticketmaster re-sale website were being advertised on Monday morning marked at as much as $401 ($303). While "frowned upon" by the AFL, re-selling tickets to matches other than the grand final "is not against the law" (THE AGE, 9/19).
