The AFL says it is conscious of cost-of-living pressures, as it works through whether to keep general admission ticket prices frozen for a fifth-straight season.
Clubs are privately reporting that membership sales – which fall under their domain – have been healthy or strong through the summer, but admit this will now be tested before the home-and-away season begins on March 16.
The AFL is considering another general admission ticket price freeze at the MCG and Marvel Stadium this season.Credit:Michael Clayton Jones
Families are reporting supermarket, gas, electricity, petrol and return-to-school costs are biting, while there was another round of interest rate rises this week, the cash rate having risen the fastest it has in three decades, prompting families to tell The Age they are reconsidering their discretionary spending.
This comes as AFL bosses are finalising this season’s ticket prices, having last year confirmed a price freeze on general admission tickets for all matches at the MCG and Marvel Stadium. For the fourth straight year, general admission tickets were $27 for an adult, $18 concession and $5 for children. Children under four continue to be free.
In a new initiative last year, a $50 family ticket was introduced, comprising two adults and two children, which normally costs $64. Clubs set their own prices for higher cost reserved seating.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has made fair pricing one of his core agenda items. More than 6.1 million supporters attended matches last year, when the fall-out of the pandemic impacted the opening months of the season.
AFL total attendances for the last four seasons
- 2019: 6,951,304 (all-time record)
- 2020: 820,262 (COVID-19 affected)
- 2021: 3,794,417 (COVID-19 affected)
- 2022: 6,106,629
Ticket prices for 2023 are expected to be released within a fortnight.
“Cost-of-living pressures are very much a consideration for every household. We are really aware of the challenges everyone is facing,” an AFL spokesman said.
“Last year, we froze MCG and Marvel general admission for the fourth year in a row, and introduced a new family ticket, initiatives that went a long way to seeing 6.1 million fans attend matches in season 2022.
“We will release ticketing information shortly ahead of tickets officially going on sale later this month.”
AFL Fans Association chief Ronnie Issko said the league should consider building on last year’s “cost reductions”, including having rounds where older children were allowed to enter free.
“With the cost-of-living pressures, perhaps the AFL could allocate some rounds as two adult tickets for the price of one, and allocate other rounds as kids go free,” Issko said.
The AFL has been buoyed in reporting strong sales for the new Gather Round in April, with more than 129,000 tickets sold across the four-day football festival in South Australia. This includes a sell-out of the Saturday double header at the Adelaide Oval between Essendon and Melbourne, and Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs.
Clubs say there are several factors which go into whether individuals or families buy memberships, including the likelihood of their team making the finals.
Christian Petracca and his Demons have been a hot ticket at the Adelaide Oval ahead of the new Gather Round.Credit:Getty Images
Richmond have sold more than 83,000 memberships, and are on track to have 100,000 members for the sixth year running, while another top-four aspirant AFL club said sales had been strong, with even high-end memberships on the rise. But other clubs are bracing for cost-of-living pressures to bite over the coming months, coinciding with many families on two-year honeymoon interest rates reverting to the current top rate. Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has overseen nine straight rate rises, and has flagged there are more to come.
The AFL last year reported record membership sales of 1,190,671, up 6.9 per cent from a then record of 1,113,441 in 2021.
While clubs admit it shapes as a challenging year to match last season’s record, they point out rusted-on supporters typically find a way to maintain their memberships because it’s an important outlet in their lives. However, clubs say those families in their early years of having a membership, or those debating whether to take one out for the first time, are more likely to reconsider their options.
Club memberships have increased 29 times over the past 31 seasons, except in 2000 when the AFL season was moved forward by a month to accommodate the Sydney Olympics, and in 2020 amid the height of the pandemic when the season was largely shifted outside Victoria.
Fourteen of the 18 AFL clubs broke their all-time records last year. Brisbane Lions, Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fremantle, Geelong Cats, Gold Coast, Greater Western Sydney, Hawthorn, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, St Kilda, and Western Bulldogs enjoyed a record haul.
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