Crowd number for preliminary final

[stellation]

My dad has been a member for a bloody long time, and takes pride in that. He has traveled away to games. He sits the next bay over from me at the SCG, it's a wonderful family thing to catchup and chat at the footy- he gets to make his way out of his aisle, walk down a few steps and ask his grandson what he thought of each quarter- those couple of minutes of conversation are absolutely one of the most important, cherished interactions and moments of his life.

I chatted to him today, he is happy to watch this one from home because of the prices; I offered to pick up his ticket, he wouldn't hear of it purely because it's a principle thing. If anyone sits this one out you can't NARF at them too much, 'cause I know of at least one guy that's in the same boat and will be sitting at home and screaming blue murder at the tele.

The AFL has got the pricing wrong, football attendance is about the footbal community- a minor increase in revenue thanks to increased prices (with lower crowds) isn't worth it.

[DLBIA14]

The pricing is completely wrong and so many people are priced out, but I'm not comfortable (personally) with people not going for the 'principal' of the matter or becasue they think particular seats they would like are too expensive, and becasue of that are still not going even though the cheaper ones are a viable option.

The people at the AFL are greedy knobs, but its our beloved club is the one that's suffering. The prices are steep for me with the travel (I'm luckily in a position to pay, but very reluctant to hand over so much money), but I love the boys more than I hate the AFL. I suppose some will decide otherwise.

It's really shameful from the AFL. All the big-ticket finals are now only for people who can afford them not the most passionate and loyal. People throw lots of @@@@ at the NRL, but it's still a game accessible to the working class people of the world. At least they're not trying to gouge people.

Prices should be determined by the market! The AFL is going the learn that lesson when less than 40 000 people show up at the ground!

[Hazcam]

Here here to the above post.

The nrl finals tickets are half the price of the AFL and for the first time in a while they will get more people to the dogs v Souths prelim than the swans.

I'm just as big a doggies fan as I am bloods so I'm very pumped for this weekend (and hopefully next).

I reckon with the right build up and enough Souths bandwagoners they might get 80,000. A premium ticket is $80 which is fair enough IMO.

I'd probably pay 120 for a cat A ticket for the swans but not 160.

[ernie koala]

Yep, I agree with the general view...tickets are way over priced......In fact arrogantly priced.

When you add it all up....Dud venue, dud access, over priced.......IMO 40,000 max....

And thats mainly due to plenty of Wobble fans turning out.

The AFL at it's worst...out of touch and arrogant...

I've supported this club for over 30 years, I live in Sydney...And I'll be watching from the couch.

[Hazcam]

I dont blame you ernie. Although you could maybe get a bronze ticket I know it's near the posts but it's better than watching on tele I reckon.

After looking at the map and the allocation of each category I think we'll be lucky to get 45-50k. The AFL are wayyyy out of touch on this one.

If it was the eagles then 40,000 would even be wishful thinking.

Anything less than 45,000 a AnZ is a crappy atmosphere

[Industrial Fan]

To sit in our normal seats would be half of an annual membership, which is ludicrous.

We are still going, and will begrudgingly snap up some crap seats at $70 each.

No chance of roping anyone into going to the game that is not a diehard.

28,000 still my guess.

[mcs]

I dont blame you ernie. Although you could maybe get a bronze ticket I know it's near the posts but it's better than watching on tele I reckon.

After looking at the map and the allocation of each category I think we'll be lucky to get 45-50k. The AFL are wayyyy out of touch on this one.

If it was the eagles then 40,000 would even be wishful thinking.

Anything less than 45,000 a AnZ is a crappy atmosphere

Atmosphere was pretty brilliant for the final against North with what about 19K at it? Crowd numbers doesn't necessarily reflect atmosphere.

I also agree with everyone that the prices are ridiculous, and I can understand how some people are not going because of it. But being young and with some decent disposable $, it would take a lot more than silly ticket prices for me not to be there friday night. I will only be buying Silver or Bronze tickets though.... as when we win I'll be forking out a hell of a lot more to get down to Melbourne for the granny!

I think we will get about 40k - playing the toothless ferals will help, as all the toothless ferals that can make it will be out there in force on Friday!

[albrotha]

Getting 19 tickets tomorrow over three transactions. This includes 9 tickets for AFL fans who go infrequently and 2 who have never attended a game before. Hopefully there are a few more similar purchases who will take the place of those unfortunate supporters who cannot afford the extortiant prices.

[Cheer Squad]

Looking at the respective seating maps for Friday and Saturday night, the ticket prices should have an interesting effect on how the crowd appears on TV.

Bays 105-110 are in shot from the opening bounce, and they're platinum for us, and category 1 for the NRL. So I wouldn't be surprised if there's a few empty seats there on Friday night, as AFL ticket prices are double the NRL equivalent.

Bays 317-321 - at the northern end of the ground - are platinum for us, but Category 2 for the NRL, meaning a price differential of at least $100 per seat.

And on Level 1, we have 10 half-bays of bronze seating available at $70 per ticket - while the NRL has tweny-one-and-a-half full bays of Category 3 seating at $35 per ticket! Chances are you'd pay $35 for a seat at the NRL prelim that would seat you back up to $130 for our prelim! What was the AFL thinking when it set those prices?

Also, a large portion of gold seating set aside for our game on Level 6 will be taken up by ANZ Stadium members for the NRL game. So I suppose they're not expecting as many ANZ Stadium members on Friday night.

[Buzz13]

Just out of interest, would the best platinum seats be level 1 or level 4?

[top40]

I was really disappointed by the 45,000 crowd for the pies game a few weeks ago. Now with the AFL charging ridiculous prices I suspect the crowd for the PF will struggle to 50,000

[erica]

Just out of interest, would the best platinum seats be level 1 or level 4?

We've had platinum seats in various locations on both levels 1 and 4 over all the years the Swans have played there. Haven't thought any of them were much good. Certainly not worth paying $160 for. Others may disagree.

[Buzz13]

We've had platinum seats in various locations on both levels 1 and 4 over all the years the Swans have played there. Haven't thought any of them were much good. Certainly not worth paying $160 for. Others may disagree.

Where would people say the best seats would be then? I won't be lucky enough to attend the grand final so don't care what price I have to pay for a good seat here in the prelim...just want the best spot available

[Meg]

Try Platinum eastern side around bay 108 rows 24 and back to be sure of being under cover. I understand equivalent on western side is reserved for ANZ Stadium members.

[Cardinal]

Fans aren't complete mugs. Very small sample, but most members I have spoken to have purchased silver and bronze seats.

The facts are that the tickets are overpriced - both for the seating categorisations and for the Sydney market. The AFL is investing around $120 million into GWS over the next 6 years as it sees potential. And yet for a miserly pittance has effectively neutered what could have been a true advertisement for the game in NSW.

Personally I think a premium seat was worth $100. This is what I will spend on my silver seat. The view will probably not be as grand as platinum but what the heck. I will cancel my Canberra GWS membership next year out of principle. That means I get to watch a great game and have $60 extra in my pocket. The AFL can fund its own expansion of the game. I?m sure there will still be a bucket of money from a half full stadium (and hopefully my grand final ticket too).