UP TO 85,000 people will be allowed into the MCG for two blockbuster games this weekend, with the Victorian government lifting crowd numbers at the home of football.
Capacity has been capped at 75 per cent in Victoria for the past month, but that will increase to 85 per cent.
Marvel Stadium, GMHBA Stadium and Mars Stadium will remain at 75 per cent capacity for the interim.
Health authorities declined requests for restrictions at sporting venues to be scrapped altogether.
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But the increase of 10,000 comes in time for Saturday night's mammoth clash between undefeated Melbourne and reigning premiers Richmond, as well as the traditional Anzac Day match involving Collingwood and Essendon.
With Perth crowds now unrestricted, last Friday night's clash between West Coast and the Magpies attracted an AFL season-high of 54,159 fans.
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In South Australia, the state government has declared a full house will be allowed at the Adelaide Oval from May 8, which could bring about a crowd of more than 50,000 fans for the round eight showdown between Adelaide and Port Adelaide.
A further 10,000 tickets to the Essendon-Collingwood match will be available for MCC members, AFL members and the general public from 1pm AEST Friday.
All club members who wanted a ticket were able to purchase one in the initial release.
The 85 per cent capacity increase is the next step in getting reserved seat members back into their reserved seats.
Members will need to continue to register for tickets online as the AFL finalises arrangements in the coming weeks to have Club and AFL reserved seat members return to their designated reserved seats.
