Telstra Dome Ticket Farce

Jeffles · Post by **Jeffles** » Fri Apr 25, 2003 10:11 am

WOW. Haven't visited in 5 days and I fnd no one has brought this up yet. Well I guess I shall.

The latest in the long line of PR disasters for the stadium was on Easter Monday. An old problem reared its head again as thousands were left out of Telstra Dome as the match between Richmond and St Kilda was being played. Some people blame fans for getting there too late. Some people blame the stadiums reserved ticket seating only policy.

I was to blame the stadium for a lack of ticket windows being open (it was a Saints match) but they said that all were open. If you believe that you can't blame them.

I don't like reserved seating only for the whole stadium on a normal match. It's ok for finals. But the crowd wastes too much time picking their seats at the ticket window instead of inside the stadium. This wastes too much time. No wonder the lines were long.

I also have issues with fans getting there too late. I always get to games early and get seated reasonably quickly or I'll buy a ticket in advance. If fans get there with say 20-30 minutes they should be expected to have a seat by the start. Those fans that didn't deserve to whinge.

My beef is with those that whinge when they don't have seats and they got to the ground sans ticket only 15 minutes before the start. They knew the risks and were cutting it fine. Still even those fans don't deserv to miss a whole half of footy.

Telstra Dome needs to fix this problem. It isn't the first time they've had this. Happy hour at the ground didn't work. Try another in ground incentive. And also I say get rid of reserved seating in some sections.

yob · Post by **yob** » Fri Apr 25, 2003 12:06 pm

I was waiting for someone else to bring it up before I chimed in with my flamebait

IMO the problem is with victorians in general. It has to be, there's no other explanation. Look at a game at AAMI stadium - there's less ticket windows at AAMI, a slightly higher capacity, and I guarantee you that a quarter of the crowd for each crows game gets to their seat within the last 10 minutes before the bounce. Are we expert stadium enterers? I'd think not. It's because we have the freakin ticket in our hands a week before the match. It's called organization people

Just rock up, shove your ticket in the little thingy, *beeeeep!* , you're in. Don't worry about finding "your seat" - they're bench seats, nobody quite knows wtf their seat is anyway, so close enough is good enough!

Of course, i've been brought up going to Crows games, so i'm used to the notion that if you don't buy a ticket before hand then you're taking a big risk thinking you can buy one at the game. Ah the perks of following such a popular and professional outfit like the Mighty Crows! Sellout for this weeks Showdown XIII, hopefully we'll get 50,000+!

cam · Post by **cam** » Fri Apr 25, 2003 2:06 pm

yob wrote:IMO the problem is with victorians in general. It has to be, there's no other explanation.

You really are a typical South Aussie mate. Have you ever heard of any problems getting into the MCG? A stadium which is double the size of AAMI Stadium? There will be almost 70,000 there today, and no problems getting in, except when all public seats have sold out. The MCC Members Stand was actually just about full (in 30 mins) before the Great Southern Stand even opened.

I agree, the problem must be fixed at the dome. To get in to the MCG, you line up (in 1 line), which goes past a ticket window, then a couple of metres in front of that, is the turnstyle. At Telstra Dome, you line up at one line, get your ticket (you are allocated to a seat), then you have to line up to go through the turnstyle. The top level shouldn't be reserved. I'm pretty sure it has been like this in the past.

I was listening to a guy on Triple M this morning who works for T.D., he said that all the ticket windows were NOT open, and a lot of staff didn't attend due to the holiday. Officials were expecting a crowd of 35,000. In the end, 45,000 were in the ground, and more were turned away.

Telstra Dome has the best facilities of any ground is Aus, it deserves to have a ticketing system which is efficient. Lets fix it!!

perthsmike · Post by **perthsmike** » Fri Apr 25, 2003 8:41 pm

well i dont think u can blame the stadium entirely. after all who would have expected such a huge crowd to a saint game? but i spose they should allow for anything these days...

wat is the system like at the ground currently? wen i went we had pre-booked seats so i never found out how it worked. do u hav to pik individual seats or something? at subiaco (by the sounds of yob like AAMI too) u just show the block u wanna sit then u get ure tikets.... wats so hard about that?

mike

Egan · Post by **Egan** » Fri Apr 25, 2003 11:11 pm

Yob the reason why you south australians have a ticket in your hand is because the Adelaide Crows have a 100% membership and 3000 on the waiting list which must be congratulated. Colonial and AAMI have similar capcities yet the Dome is much smaller in width and lenght meaning that seats are tiered high to get the capcity up and getting seated and queing up is easier while at the Dome you have less room and space to get yourself organised and seated thus making huge winding quese that take ages to get in. If you went to a Power v Essendon game (37,000) people you normally would get the huge ques as most of the supporters would buy tickets at the game. Yet as your a true blue crows supporter i suggest youd never been to a power home match. It happens at all stadiums and is a fact of life. The WACA is much like Colonial and every year the media pick up how long it takes for people to get into the ground. The most famous was a few years ago when Glenn McGrath got a hatrick at the WACA and 7,000 were still lining up getting tickets. Colonial isnt the only venue prone to this happening and Im sure there would be many venues around the country which have problems with ques. Its just life

Jeffles · Post by **Jeffles** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 12:11 am

Sorry Egan. I don't think it's fair to excuse what happened and say "Colonial isnt the only venue prone to this happening ."

Colonial is the serial offender. Sure it was a Saints game but it was against a popular Melbourne club and it was a public holiday. Of course people will go to the footy.

Last night's Footy Show said not all the tickeet windows were open. Not good enough. I also say it isn't good enough that fans expect to be seated if they all get there a few minutes from the bounce but they shouldn't miss out on a whole half. Pre match entertainment is an issue. The crowd needs to get there earlier and they won't if it is to bask in the sun (read: flouro lights) of Telstra Dome.

I can understand Telstra having teething problems but after three years they should learn their lesson. Not good enough.

Egan · Post by **Egan** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 1:21 pm

What Im saying is that Colonial shouldnt be shown as the only stadium that has huge ques. The WACA had people lining up for 2 hours a few years ago due to people wanting to buy tickets on the day. Last year the problem was allieviated due to the sell out of the first day. We must remember that Colonial is only 3 years old and the WACA is 30 years old and it still has problems equal to Colonial yet without eastern state hypes. I think Colonial have alot to do but as it is a new venue from scratch unlike AAMI Stadium and other stadiums which have been gradually upgraded they have teething problems. You even see the Grand Final between Carlton and Collingwood and 122,000 people were in attendance at the MCG and they still they had problem with people trying to get into the match. We shouldnt be too harsh on a stadium which is only 3 years old even if it has been a architectural disaster from day 1.

Jeffles · Post by **Jeffles** » Sun Apr 27, 2003 7:38 pm

Looks like we'lll have to agree to disagree. The WACA's problems are noted. i recall the incident you describe. But Tesltra Dome's problems are more in frequency and in magnitude. It should not be tolerated.

Egan · Post by **Egan** » Sat May 03, 2003 1:16 am

jeffles just to stir up the forum, it would be dead without our posts.

How could you not get more of a magnitude then a 1st ever Glenn McGrath Hatrick and the hatrick against Brian Lara which was also Glenn McGraths 300 or 400th wicket. It would not have got of more magnitude then that day. Aswell this test was to break the record for consecutive test wins. I can tell you the WACA have problems whenever any sport comes to the venue even when the eagles are hosted there, due to the WACA members getting tickets first before the AFL members. Although I do note the numerous problems of Colonial Stadium.

Although now you just have to wait half an hour for a security guy to put a sticker on your bag so u can get into the ground. Pay $10 to get a taxi only a few kms away and then get on a bus. The WACA still is a disaster zone and does not treat the customer with respect much like colonial.

Jeffles · Post by **Jeffles** » Sat May 03, 2003 11:14 am

They didn't know McGrath was gonna get a hat trick.

All the other stuff you say about the WACA is noted though. It is a bit of a shambles when it gets packed. But with TICKETING it is Telstra Dome that takes the cake.

Perhaps we should start another topic called WACA "EVERYTHING BUT TICKETING BUT SOMETIMES EVEN TICKETING' FARCE

You'd think it would be better at both grounds conideringthey are close to the city and they can attract lots of people. Thank God I haven't suffered from these stadiums yet.