The process of selling tickets for the MTN8 final between Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns, scheduled for October 10th at Moses Mabhida Stadium, turned into chaos due to a major failure in the website of the ticket distributor, Open Tickets.
After the PSL league, together with sponsor MTN, announced Moses Mabhida as the venue for the final on Monday, fans of both teams and neutral spectators focused on buying tickets as soon as sales opened on Friday at 10:00. This match is considered one of the most anticipated events in the local sports calendar due to the intensified competition between the clubs in recent years.
However, the process of purchasing tickets on the official distributor's website was far from smooth: most users encountered long queues online, server errors, or interrupted checkout sessions.
Fans expressed their disappointment on social media, some of whom stated they had lost interest in attending the match in person, especially after the PSL and MTN delayed announcing the venue by a month, despite the teams' renown and huge fan bases.
Open Tickets released a statement explaining the reasons for the delays. It stated: 'We know you are eagerly awaiting this long-awaited match. Due to the exceptionally high demand for this match, an automated queuing system is currently active to manage server traffic and ensure fair distribution of tickets. Please remain in the queue; closing or refreshing this page may result in losing your spot.'
Following this, Pirates published messages on their social media to inform fans that the website is functioning and actively processing purchases. Tickets for the game are strictly digital, cost R150 each, and individual purchases are limited to four tickets.