March 22, 2026 — 5:00am
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Rodney Tingel first discovered he would be paying more than just his membership to see his Hawks demolish a hapless Essendon when a text message arrived 11 days before the game.
The message informed Tingel, 55, and a Hawthorn fan since 1978, that he would need to upgrade to a reserved seat to gain admission to the MCG for what had been designated as “a fully ticketed game” on the back of Zach Merrett’s foiled escape to the Hawks.
Footy fan Rodney Tingel could be the Hawk in the coal mine of ‘footyflation’. Simon Schluter
Tingel’s membership cost him $350 for 11 Hawthorn games, four of which are replacement matches that aren’t Hawthorn home games. This heavily hyped Essendon home game was one of the four that compensate for Hawthorn’s Tasmania games.
The AFL and Essendon had forecast a turnout of 80,000, hence the ticketing was compulsory.
The cost of purchasing a ticket was, at minimum, $13. But by the time Tingel booked, he found himself paying an additional $15 for a seat on level four in the Shane Warne Stand.
“It gave me something on level four, row P, and I was charged an extra $28 for that seat,” said Tingel, who spoke to this masthead to illustrate how the costs of going to the footy – historically affordable – could escalate.
The Hawks are giving their faithful plenty to cheer about already this season.Getty Images
“So I what I guess took umbrage at is feeling as though I’d been charged twice – I’m a paid member, this is my replacement game due to Tasmania … and yet a game that I should be going to as part of my membership, I’m being charged for, again.”
Double jeopardy.
Tingel would have happily gone and found a spot in standing room, behind level one. If there was an option to avoid the full $28 slug, he didn’t see it when booking.
“Not [an option] that was really evident to me,” he said. “If there was, I would have taken it because I was quite happy to stand on level one.
“So I took the cheapest option as I could see it.”
And standing room, behind level one, was precisely where he ended up watching the anti-climatic clash of 43-year foes, which drew a crowd of 71,384.
But, to borrow from Deborah Conway, this was only the beginning of a night that hurtled towards a night at the opera by the end.
Another perspective
Tingel had driven from the outer north-eastern suburbs to near the MCG; in years past, he had secured a free parking spot for night games. “I parked out on Victoria Parade, which used to be un-metered of an evening … that was a further $6.”
He fancied a beer or two. For that privilege – more necessary for Bomber fans – he paid $12.50 each for a pair of schooner-sized light-strength ales. Add another $25.
“Then, being a night game, I went and got a cheeseburger and fries and that was another $23.50.”
He went outside during three-quarter-time and grabbed two cinnamon doughnuts and a coffee from a van – just $12.60. “That’s $5.50 for a black coffee.”
It added up to $95.10 for a night at the footy. This did not count the rapidly rising cost of petrol from his home, nor the price of his membership, which averages out at $31.82 per game. If the doughnuts were gratuitous, the bill was still nearly $90 without them.
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“That’s me, on my own,” Tingel said. “I haven’t got my wife with me, so I’m not buying two coffees.”
Tingel, who works in financial services and isn’t skint, emphasises that he’s thinking more about the affordability for other fans at a time of prolonged inflation, which has prompted the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates.
“I’m very mindful that inflation is everywhere. It’s hard to buy a coffee for $5. I appreciate that you’ll pay a bit of a premium for being at an event, like at the football.
“But it just struck me that it had gone up quite a bit over the last few years, to the point that I used to think it cost me about $30 to go to the football, I would spend. Then it was $50. Looking at this, I was stung trying to buy the reserved seat, I’m spending $95.”
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Tingel went to Thursday night’s more entertaining Hawthorn v Sydney game and simply walked in without copping the blockbuster booking fee. He saved $28 on that alone.
The AFL is suddenly grappling with the issue of fully ticketed games, and whether some games warrant that designation. The view is that they need to work more closely with clubs to avoid over-charging members and fans for games that might not be packed out.
Another factor that the AFL should consider – that at least three of the biggest-drawing clubs, Carlton, Richmond and Essendon, aren’t within cooee of flag contention and that Collingwood’s dad’s army doesn’t look as formidable. The stickiness of Bomber and Blue folk, after two decades of failure, cannot be taken for granted.
Putting aside the cost of going to the footy, Tingel is fortunate to be a Hawks fan on the verge of another era of success.Simon Schluter
To make consumer comparisons, a colleague with Hawthorn affinities checked online and found that the pub nearest Tingel offered the beef brisket for $29, calamari for $16 and beers for $7.80 (Carlton Draught) and $7 (Great Northern). In these inflationary times, fans look for bargains.
Tingel reckoned the fully ticketed decision was premature.
“I feel like I’ve been charged twice, and I felt it was a bit premature, like 11 days out from the game,” he said.
“I appreciate it takes time to organise things – it can’t be the day before. But it was evident before the game had even started that the crowd wasn’t going to be excessively large – at 71,000 there’s plenty of room at the ’G.”
Essendon’s decision to make it fully ticketed seemed justified, in this column’s view, based on the build-up. Be it booking fees or Essendon’s poor defence, something deterred 9000 or more from going. Was the beef brisket more palatable?
The cost of going to the footy isn’t as simple as the general admission price, which the AFL has kept down, or the membership fees.
Rodney Tingel might be the Hawk in the coal mine on the issue of footy affordability.
And if he feels slightly ripped off, bear in mind that he’s also blessed to follow a team that isn’t under water.
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Jake Niall is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via X or email.From our partners