The official attendance at the annual Collingwood-Essendon game was 88,999, below the 90,000 plus crowd the AFL had been hoping for.
Demetriou was disappointed by the policy of the Melbourne Cricket Club to not pre-sell tickets for its entire members reserve area.
"It's been a source of frustration for not only me but also my predecessors for many years," Demetriou is reported as saying in The Age. "We would have expected to be getting in excess of 93,000 to 94,000 when you look at previous crowds.
"For large events like this, you've seen today, it doesn't work. It's extremely disappointing that in a day where we know that ticketed games, particularly for major events, work … that this can still be happening."
MCC CEO Stephen Gough said his organisation was "not tied by what the AFL wants" but conceded that the attendance in the MCC reserve area was down.
The MCC pre-sold around 20 per cent of its reserve tickets for yesterday's game, a policy that will be repeated on two more occasions later in the season.
