Infotainment Factory: Eddie calls out AFL 'integrity' over GF ticket farce

Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has called on the AFL to have more "integrity" about the grand final being a major revenue-raising event.

McGuire's call came following a feud which erupted between Collingwood and Ticketek over grand final tickets on Monday.

Priority-one Magpies members paid almost $1000 for a membership that guaranteed them a grand final ticket, but some were left with "standing room" tickets, some were allocated areas with obstructed views and others missed out altogether.

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McGuire, who presided over the club for 22 seasons and six grand finals, said "I've been screaming about this for years", when asked about the grand final ticket drama.

"With the changeover ... the byword of the AFL needs to be 'integrity'," he told Nine's Eddie and Jimmy podcast.

"I think we need to get to an era of being brutally honest about what happens at the grand final.

"The grand final is a major revenue-raiser for the AFL, which keeps the tickets cheap for the home and away games."

McGuire suggested that the AFL should allow fans to be able to register for grand final tickets "six to eight weeks" prior to the decider.

"Let's have a legitimate price point so that people know," he said.

"Why don't we sell those tickets or at least have a registration for a seat six to eight weeks ago?

"For example, Collingwood is in the grand final, I am a legends member, I should be told that I'm in (seat) N56. If Collingwood get in, I know where I am.

"You could do that with every club. The top teams make the finals earlier and the top four generally makes it through and you can use that period and all the tickets should be just about allocated by the (pre-finals) bye round, which was part of the reason why I pushed for the bye round.

"Previous to that, the ticketing was ordinary, they used to have a 'series' ticket which was the AFL trying to rip people off a second time.

"If we did this in a sophisticated manner, it means there is no rush at the end, everybody knows what is going on, and tickets become available as you go through the (finals) series.

"The whole thing is to allow people to know what they need to do with certainty (to get a ticket). The AFL needs to work out how much money they need to make out of a grand final but then do it through the prism of looking after members, give people a chance.

"The AFL should look at maybe another 10,000 seats somewhere, now that's coming out of someone paying extras, but just get the dollar amount right and be honest with each other and say what this means."

Collingwood CEO Craig Kelly has assured the club's priority-one members they will receive a ticket for Saturday's grand final against the Brisbane Lions.