Ticketing Policy
ESCFAN/OGAE Australia is not a ticketing agency for the Eurovision Song Contest.
STEP BY STEP GUIDE
Entry for the Ticket Ballot is open for new OGAE Australia members who have joined before 30th June 2024, and to existing members who have renewed their membership before 30th September 2024. Only primary members are eligible for the ballot and members should have their OGAE International Card activated via the Cardskipper App.
Application for entry into the Ticket Ballot will open on the 1st October for a one-month period, ending 31st October, unless communicated from OGAE International of an earlier ticket release. If the date and/or location of the upcoming Eurovision is not known, the above dates may be deferred to a later draw.
OGAE Australia members who are eligible to enter may apply for a single ticket package, or as a group of 2 for two ticket packages.
A list of ballot applications will be produced shortly after the application period has expired, with a number assigned to each Ticket Ballot application. This number will be in order of application, with the earliest application assigned as number #01. Applications by a group of 2 will be assigned one number.
A Ticket Ballot event will be scheduled as soon as practicable after the application period has expired.
The Ticket Ballot will be conducted by three OGAE Australia members not entered into the ballot or a combination of other OGAE club members. The ballot will be via a random draw of numbers determined on the day of the draw.
A second list detailing the order of numbers drawn, and the corresponding members’ names, will be made available the day after the Ticket Ballot event.
Ballot applicants can withdraw from the ballot should their plans change at any time prior to the release of packages by OGAE International.
As soon as practical, prior to the allocation of tickets, an email will be sent out to all members who have applied for the Ticket Ballot to confirm their interest in purchasing tickets. Members who do not respond to this email by the relevant due date will be deemed to have cancelled their application.
Once communication has been received from OGAE International detailing the number of ticket packages on offer to OGAE Australia, the number will be split into two allocations,
“Group A” A guaranteed ticket allocation based on length of membership and instances of ticket package wins in the past (refer below for more information).
“Group B” As per the order of the random draw.
In the event of an odd number of ticket packages offered, the additional package will be allocated to Group A..
The allocation of Group A tickets will be offered first to those highest on the guaranteed list who have registered their interest before 31st October 2024 and confirmed their interest by the deadline stipulated in Step 9 above.
The allocation of Group B tickets will be offered second to those highest on the most recent random draw list, who did not receive a package via Group A allocation.
If a single ticket package remains in either allocation, the package will be offered to the next single application only in the relevant list. (i.e. groups of 2 will be by-passed)
Successful parties will be contacted by phone immediately after the ticket package allocation is known. We will notify ballot members before this happens. Ballot members contacted by phone will either accept or reject the offer at the time of call. No call backs will be made.
Those who accept the offer, during the phone call, will have their intention to purchase their ticket package registered with OGAE International.
Successful members who have confirmed their intention to purchase their allocated ticket package, but do not proceed to do so, will be locked out of future Ticket Ballots for a period of two years, with their ticket package offer recorded as a “success” in the guaranteed list.
OGAE International will provide further communication to those successful in obtaining a ticket package on how to collect tickets at the venue in 2025.
WHAT ARE OGAE TICKET PACKAGES?
Every year OGAE International approaches the hosting broadcaster to have a number of ‘ticket packages’ made available to members of OGAE clubs. The tickets are for the best vantage spots in the venue – located front of stage in standing or seating.
These tickets are much prized by fans, not only for their location and discounted cost, but eliminate the need to risk the public sale and ensure you are placed alongside other strong Eurovision fan club members from across the world.
Prior to 2019 Ticket Packages were for 6 shows (3 live and 3 jury shows).
In 2019 two packages were available:
Package 1 - 3 Live shows and 3 First Rehearsals
Package 2 - 3 Jury Shows
In 2022, two packages were available:
Package 1 - 3 live shows
Package 2 - 3 jury shows
Can I just purchase one ticket – say to the final, rather than the ‘OGAE Ticket package’?
No. OGAE Tickets are sold as a package only, and not available individually, or to be re-sold or split up. If you wish to attend just one show (or a selected few), it is suggested you purchase these tickets through the official ticket seller when they go on public sale.
What are my chances of obtaining an OGAE ticket package?
This is a tricky question to answer but here are some factors that will impact on your success:
The number of members applying for a package (the more applying, the less your chance of success)
The number of primary members we have in total. The more primary members we have, then the greater the percentage of packages we receive from the total tickets offered to OGAE International. To ensure your primary membership is counted please ensure you have activated your OGAE Card via the Cardskipper App.
The total overall packages offered to OGAE International
The outcome of the ballot (ie what number you receive)
In addition to the OGAE Packages we also assist members via the public sale as much as we can.
POLICY REGARDING TICKET BALLOTS
TICKET BALLOT GUARANTEED LIST (GROUP A)
Each year, OGAE International secures a number of ticket packages for Eurovision, allocating to the official fan clubs around the world. These packages are highly sought after, not only by club members, but many non-members around the world. Considering the uniqueness of these packages (ordinarily tickets to all Eurovision shows – Jury and/or Live), the OGAE Australia membership of $25 is a small price to pay for the chance to secure a package.
There are a few points to consider from the previous “random draw” process:
A brand new member of just a few months has the ability to secure a package ahead of long standing members.
Long standing members of the club for 3-4 years, attempting to secure a package each year, may never win a package.
History has also shown the following scenarios:
Brand new members have won ticket packages every year, with some members within this group not renewing membership for the following year.
Members have applied for all three ticket packages the club has offered, and have not secured packages for the live shows on all three occasions.
The Ticket Ballot “Guaranteed List” is a strategy to avoid the above consequences, without changing the existing process practiced by OGAE Australia in the past. It aims to eliminate the “bad luck” element of a random draw, and spread ticket success further throughout the club.
The guaranteed list is compiled using data from length of unbroken membership, together with success of winning a ticket package, or packages, in the past. A score is calculated from the data enabling a list to be generated. Longer serving members who have never applied, won or purchased a package are more likely to be at the top. The newest members in the club will be at the bottom.
The score is calculated in the following manner:
(MOM x 0.25) - (TBS x 9)
MOM - Months of Membership
TBS - Ticket Ballot Success
For example: Valentina has been a member of OGAE Australia for 48 months and has won a ticket package once. Therefore, her calculation would be
(48 x 0.25) - (1 x 9)
12 - 9 = 3
As she has been a member of OGAE Australia for 48 months, she has 12 points. However, as she has won a ticket package once before, 9 points are removed. Therefore, she has 3 points remaining to then be ranked within the list of people who have also applied.
Prior to the 2022 Ticket Ballot allocation, the Ticketing Policy deducted the equivalent of 4 years for winning a ticket package, making the TBS calculation TBS x 12. This has been reduced to 3 years for 2022 and beyond.
THE RANDOM DRAW LIST (GROUP B)
The second list is produced containing only those members who have registered their interest to purchase a ticket package for the upcoming Eurovision contest. The list is compiled by random draw, conducted by three OGAE Australia committee members who haven’t registered their interest in the draw. The list will be drawn by numbers using a method decided on the day of the draw.
GROUP PACKAGES
Members who wish to be registered in the draw as a group of 2 (maximum), will continue to do so in the same fashion as previous years. For the “guaranteed” list, the couple will be ranked by averaging their scores, and then given a new ranking. In the example below, Victor and Conan are entering as a group, so their scores of 7 and 4.25 have been averaged to 5.625, and then re-sorted to lower Victor’s rank from 2 to 3.
Caveat: this picture is based on Ticket Ballot calculations used prior to the 2022 Ticket Ballot allocation.
If there is only one ticket left for the guaranteed allocation, it will be offered to the next single ticket registered member only.
BALLOT APPLICATION AND DRAW
The ballot application will remain the same. Whether in line for Group A or B tickets, interest must be submitted to the club committee by a designated date. Members at the top of the Group A table above who have not submitted an interest in the ballot, will not be eligible for a ticket package.
The draw will be conducted as per usual, assigning a number to each of the interested parties and drawn randomly. The final random draw list will be compiled and posted.
Ballot applicants do not need to nominate Group A or B. This will be done by the Club automatically in the best interests of the ballot applicants based on the criteria detailed in this document.
ALLOCATION OF TICKETS
Once the number of ticket packages available to the club is known, the total will be divided - 50% for the “guaranteed” allocation (Group A), and 50% for the random draw (Group B). In the case that an uneven amount of packages are offered, the additional package will be allocated to Group A. (eg. with 23 packages available, 12 will be offered to Group A, and 11 to Group B).
The allocation of packages for Group A list will be offered to the highest ranked members on the list determined by length of membership and instances of ticket win previously. This is irrespective of where they are on the random draw list.
The remaining ticket packages will be allocated to Group B, offered from first drawn from the ballot, and working down the list, skipping over any members who have already been allocated a ticket package from Group A.
If there is only one ticket left for the guaranteed allocation, it will be offered to the next single ticket registered member only.
PENALTY FOR NON-PURCHASE OF TICKETS
Once the ticket allocation has been finalised from OGAE International, all successful parties will be contacted to confirm their intention of purchasing the packages. This is also the final chance for applicants for ticket to withdraw their interest. A confirmation from all successful applicants is then forwarded from the club to OGAE International, who will later send out communications on how to purchase the package.
Package confirmations for Tel Aviv that have gone through this final stage, but not purchased in the end, were not made available back to the club. In other words, OGAE Australia lost packages when not purchased.
In the event this should occur again, members who have confirmed their intention to purchase their package, but do not, will not be eligible to apply for the ticket ballot of the following two years. In addition, their non-purchased ticket package will be recorded as a “success”. As a result, the member will remain in approximately the same position on the Group A list when they regain their eligibility.
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES ARISING FROM 2019
PACKAGE 1 vs. PACKAGE 2
Ticket Packages for 2019 and 2022 were divided into Package 1 (Live Show Package) and Package 2 (Jury Show Package) due to the extreme cost of tickets, and the limited number made available.
For purposes of the “GUARANTEED LIST (Group A)” ranking, only Package 1 allocations will be registered as a ticket “win”, as the live shows are generally the preferred ticket wishing to be won.
The division of packages will most probably not be an ongoing process for future Eurovisions, but should this format occur again, or continue, a revision of the above process will occur. The committee will only consider amendments to this special circumstance after consultation with members.
ADDITIONAL PACKAGES
For future contests, additional packages may became available due to other clubs not fully buying out their assigned quotas. Again, this is most probably something that arose from the 2019 contest only, but should the same occur in the future, any additional packages offered to the OGAE Australia club after the initial allocation will be assigned to those on the random draw list only (Group B), continuing from the point the initial allocation reached.
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES ARISING FROM 2020
Those who were successful for tickets for the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest but were unable to attend due to government restrictions regarding travel; will be marked as not having attended that event and the refund of those tickets will not be marked against you. The event never happened for the purposes of the ticket ballot and your position will remain the same as it did for 2020.