Geelong Cats and Brisbane Lions fans have been given one final opportunity to secure a seat at the grand final, as the AFL looks to leverage the scarcity of tickets for its showpiece event to boost crowds at AFLW games.
Thousands of fans have been left disappointed following member ballot draws, which gave 17,500 tickets to the fans of each club. Melbourne Cricket Club members have been allocated 22,500 tickets and about 20,000 have been provided to AFL and Medallion Club members.
The remainder is given to the AFL and its partners, and head office has decided to offer five double passes worth more than $1,000 each as part of a new AFLW promotion this year.
The AFLW general manager, Emma Moore, said she wants “as many fans as possible” to attend an AFLW game this season. “This competition is a terrific opportunity for fans to get to a match and have the chance to win a precious AFL grand final ticket,” she said.
Five women’s games will be held in Melbourne and Geelong on Thursday night and Friday, as the AFL tries to tap into the Victorian public holiday and the general enthusiasm around the code. At three-quarter time in each game, one double pass will be handed out in a meat raffle-style draw for fans who attend.
According to an AFL Fans Association poll of 5,645 people run on its social channels this year, 92% of respondents wanted more grand final tickets reserved for competing club members. The organisation is lobbying for an allocation of 20,000 for each club.
Thursday night’s game at GMHBA pits the Cats against the Hawks, and will be the start of three days of celebrations for Geelong fans. The AFLW team has now won three games in a row and has surged into the top eight.
“[The AFLW team is] playing some really good football the last three weeks and getting a big crowd along to support the women’s team is going to be awesome,” Cats men’s forward Jeremy Cameron said.
“Having the day off the next day for the parade is even more reason to come along and watch tomorrow night, so we hope for a big crowd and we’ll cheer them on for another win.”
Debra Ayres and her teenage daughter Kerrigan visited GMHBA stadium on Wednesday to watch the Geelong players train. They have never been to an AFLW game, but upon hearing of the possibility of winning grand final tickets, they were considering going on Thursday night.
“We used to live near [Whitten] Oval in Footscray, but we never got there,” Debra said. “It was always bad weather on the night we planned to go, but if it’s going to be good weather tomorrow night, we might come down, we’ve got nothing planned.”
She said the ticket giveaway definitely influenced her decision: “I’ve never been to a grand final, we only go to Marvel stadium in the city.”
A crowd of 2,771 came to last year’s pre-grand final Thursday night game which is becoming a tradition in Geelong, and the club hopes that will be exceeded in part due to the promotion.
AFLW crowds this season are averaging about 2,500 a match, well short of the benchmark of 6,000 required to trigger a longer season that is written into the collective bargaining agreement.
The 8,042 that attended the opener between Carlton and Collingwood remains the highest attendance of the year, but the Sydney derby on Sunday drew 7,171.
