It was already going to be difficult for most 49ers fans to attend their Week 1 game against the Rams in Australia, given it’s at least a 15-hour plane ride from the Bay Area. But a local ticket resale law in the land down under makes attending the Melbourne matchup nearly impossible.
In the state of Victoria, where Melbourne is, it’s illegal to resell a ticket to a major sports or entertainment event — the government designates these “declared events” — for more than 10% above the price at which it was purchased. This rule comes from a 2009 law called the Major Events Act, which was in part created with the goal of “controlling the secondary ticket market.”
This act of consumer protection could perversely be to the detriment of 49ers fans who wanted to travel across the Pacific Ocean to see their favorite team’s season opener. The Herald Sun, a Melbourne-based publication, reported that there were already 151,000 people on the game’s waiting list as of Thursday morning. The official total capacity for the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is slated to host this NFC West rivalry game, is 100,024, ostensibly making the game a sellout before the first batch of tickets is even released to Melbourne Cricket Club members on March 31 (April 1 in Australia), per the Herald Sun.
The difficulty of getting a ticket is the law working as intended. The only people getting tickets are consumers who’d actually want to attend the event, and the 10% cap on any potential profit is warding off any scalpers. There’s even an official online tip line to report those who try to circumvent these policies.
Perhaps the best hope for 49ers fans interested in getting into this game would be through Australians who purchased a ticket before asking their work if they can take the day off. As the Herald Sun noted, Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan “stopped short of offering a public holiday.”