Tickets to the “highly anticipated” first NFL game in Australia have “nearly sold out, but frustrated fans say they experienced long waits and have complained of sky-high pricing” for seats at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with restricted views, according to Hannah Kennelly of the Melbourne AGE. The cheapest tickets at $67.12 (all figures U.S.) per person for standing room, and $98.92 for the bottom row, sold out “almost immediately” on Ticketmaster on Wednesday for the September 11 game, with “many punters complaining they had next to no chance of securing them.” Pre-sale tickets for MCC members and American Express card users for the game went on sale last week and “also sold out quickly.” On Wednesday, many fans said that they experienced “lengthy queues and trouble navigating Ticketmaster’s system.” According to NFL Australia, “more than 151,000 people registered their interest” for the September game at the MCG (Melbourne AGE, 4/8). In Melbourne, Rolfe & Wenn wrote many MCC members, who could access tickets in a pre-sale, were “dismayed when they logged on only to find that the allocation of standing room tickets and the cheapest seats had been quickly exhausted, leaving only the exorbitantly priced seats left.” Restricted view seats sold for “at least” $183.70 each. “VIP” tickets to the match sold for $1,236.71 – $1,978.73 (Melbourne HERALD SUN, 4/8).
