Everton Ticket Rush Set to Test AFC Bournemouth Fans Again Today

Bournemouth supporters are set for the first "Ticket Tuesday" of the new Premier League season at 10am today, with high demand expected when seats go on sale for the Cherries' opening home fixture against Everton.

If supporters thought getting tickets was difficult last season, the first fixture for this campaign could prove even more challenging.

As AFC Bournemouth continue work on the long-term redevelopment of Dean Court, the club has expanded its hospitality offering for the 2026/27 campaign. New premium lounges and matchday experiences have required a significant reconfiguration of seating inside the stadium.

The club are keen to underline though, that the percentage of hospitality seats will not change by the time the redevelopment completes. There is 6% hospitality now, there will be 6% when the stadium is done. Despite being a very small percentage of supporters - these packages contribute to 40% of matchday revenue.

Around 600 supporters were relocated from their long-held seats earlier this year to make way for the enhanced hospitality areas. Under the original construction programme, that reduction was expected to be offset by the completion of the two new corner infills, each adding around 360 seats, meaning overall capacity would have risen despite the hospitality expansion.

However, following the club's decision to re-sequence construction work, and because of potential delays due to unexpected hurdles, the corner infills are not expected to be available for the first home game of the season - however, it must be stated that this was never promised by the club. 

The result is that supporters are likely to see a noticeable reduction in general admission tickets available for the opening fixtures.

The reduction may not be the full 600 seats, however. The club has shelved the Kings Plaza premium food and drink upgrade for supporters in the Ted MacDougall Stand towards the end of last season, meaning some seating that would otherwise have been allocated to hospitality is expected to remain available for general sale.

Tickets go on sale at 10am, but supporters shouldn't feel pressured into logging in exceptionally early.

AFC Bournemouth's ticketing partner, SeatGeek, uses a randomised waiting room. Anyone who joins the queue before 10am is assigned a random place when sales open, meaning someone logging in at 9:59am has exactly the same chance of receiving a favourable queue position as someone who joined at 9:30am.

Once queue positions have been allocated, supporters are admitted to the ticketing system in order as capacity allows.

In short, success comes down to luck rather than how early you open your browser.

When Bournemouth switched to SeatGeek, the platform received plenty of criticism from supporters. Early sales were plagued by technical issues, confusing navigation and frustrations over the new purchasing process.

While many fans still feel the user interface could be more intuitive, it's fair to say the system has become considerably more stable over the past year. The widespread outages and technical problems that characterised the early months have largely disappeared, giving supporters a smoother experience heading into the new season.

The queues serve to hold customers back from overloading the server, and as such, the experience is relatively seamless.

Another significant change this season is how supporters gain entry to the stadium.

Following new Premier League requirements, all supporters will now use digital tickets, with paper tickets no longer being issued for standard matchday entry.

Fans will need to access their live QR code through the official AFC Bournemouth app, where their ticket will update automatically for each fixture. Supporters who haven't already downloaded the app or activated their digital ticket are encouraged to do so well before matchday to avoid delays at the turnstiles - which themselves, will also be new.

The reduced ticket availability is expected to be a temporary consequence of the wider stadium redevelopment.

The club's long-term vision remains a transformed Vitality Stadium with a capacity of around 20,200, including a brand-new South Stand, permanent corner infills, an increased North and East stand, upgraded hospitality facilities and improved concourses. While supporters may face another season of fierce competition for tickets, the reward should ultimately be a stadium capable of accommodating thousands more Cherries fans in the years ahead.

Let us know if you are successful in securing a ticket for Everton! tell how you got on in the Ticket Tuesday queue in the comments below!