AFL fans fury after MCG ticket meltdown
A breakdown of Ticketek’s mobile website left hundreds of fans waiting outside the MCG for the AFL season opener between Richmond and Carlton last night (Thursday 24th March).
Ticketek’s mobile phone tickets failed to load for the match, leaving people waiting outside with nothing but an error message accessing their paperless tickets. As a result, as of an hour before kick-off, Ticketek directed people those unable to load their mobile tickets to box office outlets to have their tickets printed – with huge resultant queues.
The ticketing failure follows Ticketek's website crash earlier this month, which forced the AFL to push back the release of tickets for the opening rounds of the season.
Ticketek is the ticketing agency of choice for the Melbourne Cricket Club, which said it would meet with the AFL and Ticketek to resolve the problem as soon as possible.
An MCC spokesperson told AFL.com.au “the problem related to Ticketek's mobile ticket system.
"People did have to wait and go and get a printed ticket, which is not what we want."
The MCC said the problem had been resolved by quarter-time and all fans were inside the ground.
The AFL has put a significant focus on 'fan experience' in the past 18 months and apologised to fans who were inconvenienced by the previous Ticketek system failure.
Ticketek apologised directly to several customers who complained on Twitter about the difficulties in entering the venue.
The MCC's current contract with Ticketek lasts until 2018.
Fans in Adelaide complained the same problem was also affecting the Socceroos game against Tajikistan at Adelaide Oval.
Images: MCG (top - courtesy of AFL media) and a Ticketek promotion of the 2016 AFL season.
24th March 2016 - MCG OFFERS WORLD-CLASS CONNECTIVITY TO AFL FANS
24th March 2016 - ALVARADO PARTNERS WITH TICKETEK TO PROVIDE SELF-SERVICE TICKET SCANNING
22nd November 2015 - TICKETEK USES NEW DATA MANAGEMENT PLATFORM TO TARGET AUDIENCES
19th January 2015 - TICKETEK INTRODUCES WORLD FIRST DYNAMIC MOBILE TICKET AT AUSTRALIAN OPEN
17th October 2014 - GATES OPEN AT HAMILTON’S SEDDON PARK
3rd October 2013 - MCC EXTENDS TICKETING PARTNERSHIP
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