General admission tickets for Bunbury’s historic AFL game between North Melbourne and West Coast at Hands Oval sold out in under 20 minutes after being made available on Thursday morning.
In a sign of huge demand for the game, which will be the first played for premiership points in regional WA, all 13,000 tickets for the June 8 clash were snapped up inside less than half an hour after going on sale at 10am.
The venue’s capacity for the home and away fixture has been set at 15,000 after 7032 fans came through the gates for a pre-season game between the two sides on March 1, which the Eagles won by two points in a thrilling finish.
Hands Oval, which had a $19.5 million redevelopment marked as complete in January, passed the early test of its AFL credentials in fine style, with key stakeholders including both clubs and the league heaping praise on the venue.
In an email to members on Wednesday, West Coast encouraged fans who wanted to secure their place for the game to be proactive, saying with “limited capacity at Hands Oval, these tickets will sell quickly”.
The State Government, North Melbourne and City of Bunbury agreed to a historic deal last year which will see the Kangaroos play two home games, including one at Bunbury’s newly redeveloped home of football, in WA for each of the next three seasons.
The clash has been set on the Sunday of Victoria’s King’s Birthday long weekend, with the promotion of direct flights between Melbourne and Busselton forming a key pillar of the deal.
West Coast will play in Bunbury this season and in 2027 under the agreement, either side of Fremantle descending on the South West in 2026.
North Melbourne have hosting rights for the game, meaning West Coast members do not have access entitlements.
As part of the deal, Hands Oval is receiving a further $5.7 million in upgrades to complement the redevelopment.
A pair of temporary grandstands were in place behind the goals at the northern end of the ground for the pre-season game and another four will be erected for the home and away game.