As first reported by the Herald Sun on Tuesday morning, the AFL has frozen the base price of a finals ticket for the 11th consecutive season as part of their continued affordability drive during a cost-of-living crisis.
The addition of two extra finals to the calendar on the new 'Wildcard Round' weekend will ensure the AFL can afford to absorb the cost of the price freeze, which has also been mitigated by a slight rise in the cost of premium-level seating across all finals.
The cheapest available adult tickets will remain at a commendable $35 for the first three weeks of finals, as it has for more than a decade, whilst baseline preliminary finals will stay steady at $65.
To compensate for the freeze, the most expensive tickets for the first three weeks of finals will rise by $2 from $105 to $107, by $4 from $216 to $220 for the preliminary final, whilst all Grand Final seat prices have gone up by a range of $7-$21.
The league needs another 669,179 spectators (an average of 37k per game) over the remaining two rounds of play to set a new all-time record for total attendance in a single home and away season, which was set in 2024 (average: 37,455 per game).
Such records have been possible only because of an ongoing affordability drive that was highlighted by $27 entry level tickets for the MCG and Marvel Stadium this year as well as keeping the cost of the humble meat pie and bucket of chips to below $5 each.
“As part of our ongoing commitment to ensure the game remains affordable for members and fans who support their club’s week in and week out, we are pleased to announce the price freeze on entry-level ticket prices for the 11th straight year,’’ AFL boss Andrew Dillon said on Tuesday.
“Cost of living has been a challenge for families and fans alike and we have been focused on delivering initiatives to help ease that pressure across the year."
The new Wildcard Round - featuring matchups between 7th-10th and 8th-9th - will take place on the weekend of August 28-30 immediately following the final round of the home and away season.
With positions sixth through to 11th all occupied by Melbourne-based clubs with two rounds, the likelihood of both wildcard finals taking place at the MCG looks extremely high.