Why Thursday night blockbuster is unlikely to reach revised capacity

Carlton CEO Cain Liddle has conceded the revised MCG capacity of 75,000 is unlikely to be reached on Thursday night, largely due to the added complexities of buying tickets amid the current COVID guidelines and short time frame on crowd regulations being relaxed.

The Victorian Government announced on Tuesday morning that capacity at Melbourne AFL venues would be lifted to 75 per cent, paving the way for over 70,000 fans to pack the MCG for Carlton’s home opener against Collingwood to begin Round 2.

Liddle stressed that despite not being able to buy a ticket at the game, there was still a seamless way to purchase tickets for the highly-anticipated clash.

“I’m not quite sure we’ll get right to the 75,000 (capacity on Thursday night),” he said on SEN’s Whateley.

“I sort of say that because there’s still a few hurdles with people not feeling like they can turn up and scan their memberships or turn up at the gate.

“You can’t quite walk up to a ticketing booth, but you can get them (on the Ticketek app)."

Carlton members will be able to purchase tickets to the clash on Tuesday afternoon, before the general public are given access on Wednesday.

Liddle said that there was now enough seats available that anyone logging onto Ticketek to purchase tickets near the start of the respective windows for members or non-members would be able to secure one with relative ease.

“The (member) allocation is significant and we won’t get through it remembering that 30 per cent of our members don’t live in Victoria and a whole heap of others buy membership to support the club and not necessarily go to games,” he said.

“If you’re a Carlton member, you can get on and buy a reserved seat, although we can’t put people in their traditional seat because the stadium needs to be broken up from a COVID perspective.

“I can confidently say to Collingwood members and supporters too that if you jump online when the tickets go on sale, you’ll get a ticket.”

The AFL also confirmed that up to 43,400 fans would be able to attend games at Marvel Stadium from this weekend, while as many as 27,819 could be on hand for Geelong’s clash against Brisbane at GMHBA Stadium on Friday night.