Australian Open’s spectator limit increased to 65% for remainder of tournament

The Australian Open will have its spectator capacity lifted to 65% for the rest of the event, rising from the 50% limit imposed at the start of the two week tournament.

The expanded capacity had been announced yesterday morning by several Victorian Government officials, with Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Martin Pakula tweeting about the change.

As of 13th January, Victorian authorities had capped capacity at 50% on the Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena, but only for sessions that had yet to reach that level when the measures were announced, with no tickets were cancelled.

As a result, the limit may allow more fans in Melbourne Park’s main venues for most of the final few rounds although overall numbers are likely to be largely unchanged.

Tennis Australia Chief Executive, Craig Tiley told the TV program Today “when they first announced the 50% capacity leading into the event, we had already sold tickets (for) the finals this week to 80, 90% capacity."

Pre COVID, the tournament usually has an attendance of more than 800,000 spectators.

Image: The Rod Laver Arena during the Australian Open. Credit: Global-cityzenCC BY-SA 4.0.