Many fans already unhappy with the lack of star power at exhibition basketball series between Australia and Team USA have been further agitated by the seating arrangements at Docklands Stadium.

Key points: Team USA beat the Boomers 102-86 in the first of two exhibition basketball games in Melbourne

Team USA beat the Boomers 102-86 in the first of two exhibition basketball games in Melbourne The lead-up to the games were marred by the withdrawal of many of the NBA stars used to sell the series

The lead-up to the games were marred by the withdrawal of many of the NBA stars used to sell the series The ACCC released a statement saying some ticketholders had received refunds before the game

The World Cup warm-up match on Thursday night, won 102-86 by the Americans, was played on a raised court to accommodate a crowd of around 50,000 — as will the second game on Saturday afternoon.

While it was a unique sight from the raised seats, those on ground-level seats, who paid hundreds of dollars, had limited viewing.

They were also seated on white plastic chairs, while the few rows of courtside seats were folding chairs.

Oscar winner Russell Crowe tweeted a video of his view from seats that he said cost him $1,500.

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"Jokes (sic) on me," he tweeted.

"If you weren't among 50,000 there and you chose to watch it on TV at home, good decision."

Many fans vented their anger on social media, with some comparing the match to the ill-fated Fyre Festival, a fraudulent "luxury" music festival in the Bahamas.

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There was already disappointment and anger from ticketholders leading into the match, with the US team missing much of its star power.

Fans felt the advertising and marketing material featuring global NBA names such as Anthony Davis and James Harden to promote the game was misleading, given they were not taking part.

Australia's own NBA superstar Ben Simmons also withdrew from the Boomers squad after being a part of the initial advertising campaign.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced last week that it was in talks with the promoter TEG Live.

On Thursday night the ACCC released a statement saying it was "aware of refunds being made to consumers for the USA Basketball games … in Melbourne [against the Boomers] and Sydney [against Canada] on 22, 24 and 26 August".

Despite this, many ticketholders on social media remained frustrated.

'Greed took over'

Ruth Morris paid $95 for her ticket and told the ABC she was disappointed.

"I would describe it as seeing ants. We were so high up on level three that they were tiny," she said.

One attendee, Renee, told ABC Radio Melbourne she was also in the "cheap seats" on level three but the size of the area was a problem.

The AFL stadium was transformed to host basketball, with plastic seats surrounding a raised court. ( Twitter: Marvel Stadium )

"We were a long, long way away from the court. I think that size of stadium is hard to fill with that many people and to have an atmosphere that you get at a smaller stadium, that was probably a bit lacking last night.

"I do think greed probably took over."

She said although she would probably go again because of the "amazing experience" of getting to see NBA players in the flesh, last night's game failed to meet expectations based on the way it was promoted.

"You don't want to pay thousands of dollars to sit on a lawn chair, so there definitely would have been people that were very annoyed," she said.

But other attendees defended the match.

"I really enjoyed it and as a basketball purist I always knew it was going to be a basketball game in the middle of a football stadium," listener Janet told ABC Radio Melbourne.

"But I think it was a credit to Basketball Australia that they took the risk to some degree. It was very innovative to set the stadium up and it was very impressive to look around the stadium to see the way it was set up.

"But being a basketball person, I was there to see the game."

One of the patrons with floor seating, Sean, told ABC Radio Melbourne said the atmosphere was great and did not understand the complaints.

"My worry here is we're basically becoming a bit of a nation of whingers. You don't get an event like that very often and I just think it's brilliant we had it."

Elusive victory evades Boomers

At least they were treated to a good contest for most of the night, until Team USA pulled away late.

The Boomers have not beaten an American national side in 55 years and, despite the best efforts of sharp-shooters Patty Mills and Chris Goulding (both with 19 points) their record was never in danger on Thursday.

The Americans arrived in Australia with one of the least star-studded rosters in decades, with global NBA names such as LeBron James and Stephen Curry skipping the exhibition games and World Cup in China.

The understrength Americans comfortably handled the Boomers in the end. ( AAP: Scott Barbour )

The lack of star power showed, particularly in the first half when the Boomers troubled the US with their stiff defence, which delighted the record Australian basketball crowd of 51,218.

The Americans, who have only spent three weeks training together, also lacked some chemistry in offence.

Both teams had their turn in front during the first two quarters, but the US lead eventually blew out to 12, before the Boomers rallied through Mills and Goulding to trail 44-43 at half-time.

But, even with only two current All-Stars in the team — Kemba Walker and Khris Middleton — the US team's class won out.

The Americans propelled the lead out to 15 points heading into the final quarter, with the Boomers providing little resistance as the clock wound down and the big crowd fell flat.

Walker, who recently signed with Boston, finished with a game high 23 points while Indiana Pacers centre Myles Turner grabbed 15 points and 14 rebounds.

Late Thursday night, USA Basketball confirmed it was cancelling a media invite to a training session that was scheduled for Friday.

AAP/ABC