Ticketek Australia has explained why it has bumped up the service and handling fee for AFL games from $3.90 per transaction for home-and-away games to $9.25 for wildcard finals.
Fans noticed a quiet increase in the service fee for the newly-instated AFL wildcard games when tickets went on sale for the two MCG wildcard games earlier in the week, with one eagle-eyed X user describing it as a "rort".
"How do you justify [$25 for the ticket and] a $10 service fee, which is double the home-and-away price, on top of an expensive annual membership fee? Absolute crooks!" the user said.
When asked to explain the decision of why the fee more than doubled within a week, a Ticketek spokesperson acknowledged the hike, saying the fees "reflect the scale and complexity of delivering each event."
"Service and handling fees cover the end-to-end service delivery, from the time of purchase through to staffing at events, technology, and support. They ensure fans are able to buy tickets and experience events securely and reliably, and reflect the scale and complexity of delivering each event," the spokesperson told ESPN.
"Importantly, the S&H fee which is applied per transaction, remains proportional across both regular season and finals fixtures, with finals attracting a higher transaction value. Fees are set to reflect the cost and complexity of delivering each event."
ESPN asked specifically if the "cost of processing a finals ticket transaction actually increases by 137%" compared to a home-and-away game, but that was left unanswered.
The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) was also approached for comment but directed correspondence to Ticketek.
For the Sydney vs. Brisbane qualifying final, handled by Ticketmaster Australia, the service fee was $6.95.