Auckland FC fans have criticised the Australian Professional Leagues’ handling of the team’s ticket prices and branded it a “money grab”.
However, the Black Knights have worked with the governing body to lower prices for their upcoming semi-final first leg against Adelaide United.
Go Media Stadium was filled with 11,341fans for Auckland FC’s dramatic penalty-shootout victory over Melbourne City, well below the average of 18,101 the club had at the stadium last season.
Fan and member of supporters’ group The Port, Nick Snedden, said he saw a major mark-up in price for this season’s elimination final.
“Some of the guys I know that usually go in the stand had tickets costing like $122 for that final ...and they were saying that usually it’s around 75 or 80 bucks," he said.
“Last year’s Melbourne Victory semi-final ticket for the same seat was $90 so it was an extra $32.”
Fans have criticised the price of tickets for Auckland FC's elimination final against Melbourne City. Photo / Photosport
“Port tickets are usually around $28 for an adult, they were going at about $45." East and west stand tickets that usually cost around $50 were now going for $80, he added.
Snedden felt the prices contributed to a lower-than-usual attendance for the match and said the APL’s handling of the prices was a “money grab”.
“I don’t think they planned it very well because you had probably thousands of people out playing football or watching their kids play football at 3pm so they’re not going to get to a 5pm game.
”I just don’t think they thought they would get a good crowd and they’d make more money.”
Guillermo May celebrates after scoring against Melbourne City. Photo / Photosport
Auckland FC CEO Nick Becker told the Herald he was disappointed with the turnout for the elimination final, but praised the fan response in helping bring prices down for this weekend’s semi-final.
“There’s a lot of commentary and fan comments either across socials or directly to the club about the price of the ticketing, which we obviously frustrated because we don’t set the ticket price, so we shared that and put the pressure on the APL,” Becker said.
Most adult tickets start at $30, while junior ones start at $15 and members can have an extra 20% off their purchase.
Becker said the APL tends to not collaborate with the clubs on prices and marketing of tickets for finals, which is done by the teams during the regular season, but things have changed for the upcoming Adelaide United fixture.
Auckland FC are hoping to get more fans along at cheaper ticket prices for this weekend's knockout game. Photo / Photosport
“They’ve been a lot more collaborative,” Becker said. “What they were sort of saying to us is that the pricing they set was very similar to what we had in our finals last year, whether that’s a fact or not, I’m not sure.”
He also said the club would be keen to run the entire process themselves, something the Wellington Phoenix are doing for their women’s team’s semi-final, second leg at Porirua Park, but that is not an option for the men’s game.
Snedden spoke positively about how the club has worked with fans on prices in the past and said he hopes to see Auckland FC in the grand final, whether it’s in New Zealand or Australia.
More than 10,000 tickets have already been sold for Saturday’s match, but Becker was optimistic and hoped at least 20,000 will be in the stands come kickoff.
