ADELAIDE -- It was supposed to be a weekend for the fans. A weekend in which the entire footballing fraternity could come together and celebrate the great game of Aussie Rules. But the AFL's Gather Round -- which is in the midst of receiving widespread praise for an on-the-surface successful year two -- has fast become a cash cow for the tourism industry. It's a weekend where there's no shame in price gouging and squeezing every last penny out of football fans; an ironic contrast to the concept's initial premise.
Airfare and accommodation price hikes around major events aren't uncommon -- any Taylor Swift fan can attest to that -- and over the years we've seen it creep into football. But the ante has been raised significantly for Gather Round, and behind the pomp and circumstance of what's branded as a four-day-long festival of footy lies the uncomfortable reality of extortionate pricing that's left a sour taste in the mouths of many.
"Four thousand dollars! Just for a night in Adelaide," one frustrated Gather Round-goer tells ESPN when asked about the costs associated with taking a family of four to the event. "When you say it out loud it seems insane!"
A key contributor to the exorbitant pricing has been Virgin Australia, the AFL's long-time major partner, leaving a sour taste in the mouth of many who made the trek.
Three months out from Gather Round, return flights between Melbourne and Adelaide with Virgin were setting travellers back around AU$600 per ticket. That's already more than double the price of booking the same trip for almost any weekend in May, June, July, or August. Those who waited until a month out before booking their Gather Round trip were faced with direct options that had ballooned to AU$900.
"Virgin Australia is committed to helping footy fans get amongst action at this year's Gather Round," a spokesperson for Virgin Australia told ESPN on the eve of Gather Round, almost contradicting the message the company's pricing was telling fans. "This year we have more than 70,000 seats scheduled to and from Adelaide from 2-9 April. Fares booked during peak periods like school holidays and around major events tend to be higher than the average fare."
"It's called Gather Round for a reason!" 👀
— ESPN Australia & NZ (@ESPNAusNZ) April 5, 2024
ESPN's @JMichaelsESPN and @MattWalshMedia take aim at airline pricing ahead of the AFL's Gather Round in Adelaide after prices 'tripled' the going rate.
FULL @FootyTips RED TIME POD OUT NOW 🎧: https://t.co/C4K8hAd38P pic.twitter.com/enNQUX7pNE
It was no better with the nation's flag carrier, Qantas, who, two weeks out from the event, were charging as much as AU$1,158 for a round trip from Melbourne. The kicker? This price was proudly advertised as a 'sale' fare.
Those making the trek from the west coast of Australia felt the pinch even more. A last-minute booking from Perth to Adelaide was setting fans back as much as AU$1,380 with Virgin and up to AU$1,800 with Qantas.
For the Melbourne-based Wright family, a trip to Gather Round to support their beloved Tigers has come with a price tag of almost AU$6,000.
"Flights were about three [thousand] for us all and then the hotel was another two thousand for the two nights," the family tell ESPN. "So, you're at five [thousand] before you even start thinking about tickets, food, drinks and getting around. For 48 hours, it's a joke."
Unsurprisingly, many feeling the squeeze of the airlines decided the cost of flying just wasn't feasible, but driving from Perth, Sydney, or Brisbane for example, isn't as easy for those from Melbourne.
"We packed the car last night, woke up first thing and just hit the road," two Blues fans told ESPN outside Adelaide Oval on Saturday afternoon, just minutes before their side's controversial clash against the Dockers. "It took about eight hours with a quick stop about halfway. We arrived at the hotel just after 2pm, parked, dropped our stuff off, and here we are."
It's certainly not the first time, and likely not the last time, such airfare price gouging occurs around the AFL.
By three-quarter time of West Coast's blowout preliminary final win over Melbourne in 2018, prices to fly from Perth to Melbourne for Grand Final weekend had more than quadrupled from the fares listed just two hours earlier. In the day leading up to the decider, savvy Eagles fans discovered it was more cost effective to fly into Melbourne via Singapore, rather than taking the direct three-and-a-half-hour route.
It was a similar story last year, just minutes after Carlton had booked its drought-breaking preliminary final date with Brisbane. Blues fans wanting to take the two-hour trip north to the Gabba and cheer their side on were forced to part with around AU$1,000 for a plane ticket, at least three times more than what was being charged to make the same journey any other weekend for the rest of the year.
Airfares are just the first piece of the financial jigsaw puzzle that is determining whether one can afford a trip to Gather Round. Hotel rates across the city have also seen dramatic rises, up as much as three times the cost of what's charged for just about any weekend in the months leading in, and following, the event.
But the biggest slap in the face for footy fans is that last week, days out from the first bounce of the Gather Round opener between the Crows and Demons, prices for dozens of Adelaide hotels were slashed by as much as 50%. Anecdotal evidence showed that booking the cheapest four-star hotel in the central business district for the Friday and Saturday nights six weeks out came with a AU$550 per night price tag. But the week of the event, five-star hotels for the same dates could be reserved for as little as AU$408 per night.
Clearly, it's a tactic to ensure as few room vacancies as possible, but it stings those who were organised, booked months in advance and were forced to pay the inflated room rates. Those being hit hardest by the Gather Round price gouging are families; the same families the AFL desperately wants and needs in order for the event to thrive in the future.
It's why family-friendly, footy-themed activations dominated the long weekend in Adelaide. There were ziplines over the River Torrens, footy reaction tests, food trucks, pop-up breweries, sausage sizzles, as well as regular meet and greets with players. Everywhere you looked there was another big screen with families decked head-to-toe in footy gear -- quite literally -- gathered around, taking in game after game.
The AFL would never have ever entertained the idea of Gather Round if it wasn't an all-but-guaranteed money-making venture. And it's not unfair to assume those spruiking it loudest in the media didn't have to fork out thousands of their hard-earned for the privilege.
So while numbers in year two would suggest it was an overwhelming success, there's a serious risk the greediness of the tourism industry could price out a large volume of the league's target audience.
"When you stop and consider what other trip that sort of money can buy ... as fun as it's been, it's just not worth it," another fan tells ESPN. "It's hard to justify doing it all again when a whole week away somewhere else is probably going to be far cheaper."