Relying on online purchasing systems and a good internet connection is not everyone’s preferred way of securing tickets to one of the biggest events on the sporting calendar.
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Relying → rely → calendar
For Chris Walkley, fronting up in person to ensure he gets AFL grand final tickets is more important than being able to purchase them from the comfort of his own home.
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he → front → home
Walkley – a Brisbane Lions supporter and AFL member – has attended the grand final for the past 16 years, apart from the COVID grand finals in Brisbane and Perth, and he continues to use the method that he knows works – camping out for tickets.
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he → attend → tickets
Each year Walkley sets up camp on Exhibition Street, right outside Ticketek, starting at 5am on Thursday.
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Walkley → set → Thursday
A group of eight people – comprising family and friends – helps over the weekend to make sure they are each able to attend the grand final.
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they → comprise → final
For the past two years, this masthead has checked in with Walkley about his plan that never changes.
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that → check → plan
“Last year my youngest decided to sleep out here with me for a night so that was good fun,” Walkley said.
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Walkley → decide → night
“I think they made the online [access] a lot more random,” Walkley said.
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Walkley → think → ?
this way we make sure of it, and we generally get pretty good seats.
“It [queueing] is a bit old-school.
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queueing → make → seats
It doesn’t happen for too many things any more, so it’s great that we can still do this,” he said.
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he → happen → this
“We’ve always had good seats, never an issue with lining up.”
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We → have → seats
With his blanket, camping chair and swag, Walkley is all set up to get through the cold nights.
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Walkley → set → nights
Still, the vast majority of fans depend on virtual ballots for the chance to see their team fight for a flag.
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team → depend → flag
How much do grand final tickets cost?
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tickets → cost → much
The most expensive grand final ticket will be $536 (excluding corporate or hospitality packages), with the cheapest coming in at $172(compared with $165 in 2025).
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cheapest → exclude → 2025
On average, prices are up about four per cent in all categories compared with last year.
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prices → compare → year
Who gets the tickets?
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Who → get → tickets
Between 16 and 40 per cent of all tickets are sold to members of the competing clubs, with up to 40,000 potentially being available.
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40,000 → sell → clubs
Each club will be potentially allowed up to 20,000 tickets.
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club → allow → tickets
Melbourne Cricket Club and AFL members are allotted a slightly larger portion of tickets (up to 26,000), with the balance going to corporates.
AFL and MCC members face years-long waiting lists to even be eligible to buy grand final tickets, and it costs upwards of $730 per year to retain that membership – not including the charge to secure a ticket.
For full MCC members there are two options for a spot in the members’ reserve: a reserved seat ballot to book a seat in advance, or walk-ups on the day for unreserved seating and standing room.
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it → allot → seating
The MCC does not allow its members to bring a visitor to the grand final, and decides on the day (based on demand) about whether to extend access to restricted members.
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members → allow → members
How do club members get tickets?
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members → get → tickets
The two clubs who progress to the grand final will distribute their allocation of tickets via a ballot – an automated, electronic draw held this the weekend by Ticketek.
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who → progress → Ticketek
The member ballot registration forms went out when the teams qualified for the preliminary finals, so if you haven’t registered by now, it’s too late.
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it → go → finals
Members pay $6 per to enter the ballot for a chance to purchase a grand final ticket, but there are no guarantees.
Who enters the ballot?
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Who → pay → ballot
Members from any of the four clubs competing in this weekend’s preliminary finals have had a chance to register for the ballot.
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Members → compete → ballot
However, when a team is eliminated by losing on Friday night (Sydney v Fremantle) and another bows out on Saturday (Hawthorn v Brisbane Lions), the members of the two losing clubs will no longer be considered for the grand final ballot.
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members → eliminate → ballot
For example, if Hawthorn beat the Lions on Saturday, Hawks members who registered for a grand final ticket will be in the hands of Ticketek, which carries out a random ballot in each priority group to determine the order of allocating tickets.
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which → beat → tickets
For those who are successful, their credit card will automatically be charged for tickets on either September 19, 20 or 21.
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card → charge → September
So if you entered the grand final ballot, it’s important to make sure there are enough funds available on your card.
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it → enter → card
Does everyone have equal chance in the ballot?
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everyone → have → ballot
Memberships are broken up into priority registration, based on people willing to pay extra for a better chance.
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Memberships → break → chance
Each club has their own name for these tiers, with the ability to secure grand final tickets varying with each.
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ability → have → each
While the priority one, or highest-tier level, typically is only available to the more expensive types of memberships, some clubs have ways to purchase add-ons during the season.
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clubs → have → season
Ticketek uses an automated system to randomly allocate tickets to priority one members, then randomly allocates the remaining tickets among priority two members, and so on until they run out.
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they → use → members
What if I missed out?
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I → miss → ?
If you missed out, be careful about trying to buy resale tickets from unauthorised agents as they could be scams.
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they → miss → agents
The AFL warns venues are not obliged to honour tickets bought from unauthorised resellers, and the league tries to limit the access of professional scalpers by limiting the number of tickets that can be purchased in one transaction.
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that → warn → transaction
The grand final is covered by the Victorian Major Events Act, which means it’s illegal to on-sell tickets above face value.
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it → cover → value
Get around our AFL finals coverage
- Brownlow Medal: See who’s tipped to win the count
-
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who → get → count
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
