Why freezing entry-level AFL final ticket prices is smart economics

Josh Chadwick/Getty Images It’s AFL finals time – and in a season on track for record attendance , the league’s decision to freeze the price of entry-level finals tickets for an 11th straight year is smart economics.

Footy fans across Australia will be queuing up to get their hands on finals tickets, including for this weekend’s first-ever wildcard finals round .

Ticket pricing for events has often made headlines for the opposite reason.

Dynamic pricing for concert tickets, where prices rise when demand is high, continues to cause controversy here and overseas.

So why are entry-level footy tickets staying cheap? It’s all about investing in the future – especially when there’s a lifetime of spending at stake.

What you’ll pay for finals tickets Finals matches routinely sell out, so standard economics would suggest raising prices.

Instead, entry-level tickets for the AFL’s qualifying, elimination and semi finals, as well as this weekend’s wildcard round, have been frozen at A$35.

Entry-level preliminary finals tickets will be $65, unchanged since 2016.

Of course, better seats at later finals will cost considerably more.

This year, other ticket categories are rising by 2–4% .

Grand Final tickets will go up the most, climbing to $172 for the cheapest ticket, up from $165 last year, while the most expensive seats are $536, up from $515.

More money vs goodwill On the face of it, keeping a price freeze on entry-level tickets means leaving money on the table.

One good reason to do so is fairness.

A classic study from 1986 by the psychologist Daniel Kahneman and economists Jack L.