Cricket Australia (CA) has warned fans to not purchase tickets from third-party resale sites for the Boxing Day Test against India, on a day the official capacity for the iconic event jumped to 30,000 for each of the five days.
On top of the iconic event being protected against ticket ‘scalping’ for a second year under the Major Events Act 2009, CA said it was also vital that tickets were not bought off re-sale websites because spectators may be subject to contact tracing measures. It is illegal for tickets to declared ‘major events’ to be resold or advertised for resale for more than 10 per cent above the face value of the ticket. Penalties can range from A$826 for individuals to A$495,660 for corporations, depending on the nature of the offences.
Victorian Sport Minister Martin Pakula confirmed the increase of 5000 fans a day for the second Test, starting December 26, a move endorsed by Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton.
Pre-sales for "Australian cricket family" members opened at 3pm on Thursday and more than 10,000 tickets were quickly snapped up, with the bulk for Boxing Day. Tickets will go on sale to the general public at 3pm AEDT on Friday (11 December).
There will now be 6900 Melbourne Cricket Club members allowed entry each day, up from 5700, with the rest of the stadium filled by the general public, AFL members and a few corporates. It is likely the 30,000 will be the final figure for the Test because of the need to allocate seats in bays along with protocol management issues.
"Melbourne is the home of Australia's biggest and most-loved sporting events and it's fantastic that we will be able to welcome 30,000 fans to the MCG on each day of the Boxing Day Test," Pakula said.
Cricket Australia interim chief executive Nick Hockley was delighted with the increase.
"We can't wait to see 30,000 fans each day at the MCG for the Boxing Day Test. It will be the first time fans have been able to attend a sporting event at the MCG since the ICC Women's T20 World Cup final, and we're so excited to be able to welcome so many fans in what's been such a challenging year for Victorians," he said.
"We're very grateful to the Victorian government and the MCC who have put in a lot of hard work to ensure we can host fans in a safe manner."
Victoria recorded another COVID-19-free day on Thursday (10 December), continuing a run of more than a month with no positive cases in the state.
John Stephenson
john@cricketinvestor.co.uk
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