AFL Club Membership

[bennymacca]

Article on the AFL website showing the memberships for each club

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-08-26/s ... hip-record

To be honest I think this number is a pretty outdated concept, and it needs to be broken down further.

For instance, the crows have reported a 2% drop in overall memberships, which is roughly in line with the 2% drop in our home crowds this season.

But, it was still impossible to get an 11 game membership at the start of the year, as they were all sold out.

What they would do though, is put you on a $90 waiting list, which would also get you a 3 game membership. Even though this waiting list is still there, it may be shorter this year, with people choosing not to renew their 3 game memberships, which could explain the drop.

Similarly for the power have had a 10.39% increase in overall memberships, but their crowds have also dropped by 1.5%. This tells me that there is likely a lot of people that have changed their full memberships back to 3 game memberships (or just more "casual" attendees getting a 3 game membership this year). I dont know if their is a waiting list for full Power memberships or not, maybe someone can help me out in that regard.


All in all, i think 3 game memberships have been an excellent thing - gives the clubs an extra way to get bums on seats, and provides more flexibility to the average punter, but I think they deserve an extra category.

Breaking it down into 0 game memberships, 3, full memberships would be a good idea

[bennymacca]

Similarly the Swans reporting a 21% increase on the previous year, even though their home crowd figures have dropped by 17%.

Seems to me that they must have introduced a new membership category this year too.

[bennymacca]

Gold coast have also reported an increase in membership, despite their home crowds dropping by 22%

I guess the casual supporter who might go to a game here or there if they are doing well isnt going to have a membership anyway though.

[Booney]

Port Adelaide now has the highest membership numbers in South Australia, surpassing the Adelaide Crows for the first time.

The club’s membership figure of 54,057 also places it in the top six in the AFL, trailing Collingwood - 75,037, Hawthorn - 72,924, Richmond - 70,809, Essendon - 60,818 and West Coast - 60,221, while Adelaide now sit just behind with 52,920.

Port’s year-on-year growth of 10.39% was the third highest in the AFL this year; only the Western Bulldogs with 11.68% and the Sydney Swans with 21.71% had greater growth.

One in 28 Australians are now AFL members (a total of 836,136) with 31,656 new members across the league in 2015. Twelve of the clubs now have record membership numbers.

Only three sides experienced a drop in members, Collingwood suffering the most with a 5.43% drop.

Port’s new position draws question marks over the 8000 memberships allocated for Adelaide Oval stadium football members, which are designated on a 36/64 basis in favour of the Crows based on SANFL data.

Port had struggled to grow its membership numbers after their inclusion in the AFL in 1997, when their license required they split with the SANFL Magpies.

In 2010 they were able to reunify with the SANFL side, triggering the rapid growth and allowing Port Adelaide Football Club chief executive Keith Thomas to pay tribute to the supporter base.

“It wasn’t long ago when outsiders were telling us that Port Adelaide’s brand wasn’t strong enough to attract enough members and supporters to remain sustainable,” Thomas said.

“It is truly a testament to our people and the way they have backed our club over the past few years with passionate support each and every week, whether it be at Adelaide Oval or at Alberton Oval.

“Since reunification (of the Power and SANFL Magpies) in 2010, we’ve seen consistent growth in members and supporters, particularly from young adults, families and a strong response from many lapsed members returning to the club.”


Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/0 ... v1RxItG.99

[MW]

apparently the criteria for the audit was a min. $50 spend with at least one ticket, so clubs strategys play a big part in the actual member numbers.

[bennymacca]

Average crowds this year are 32634 across the whole afl compared to 32696 last year.

So roughly the same.

So 3 game memberships also probably explain the "12 clubs with record numbers"

[bennymacca]

apparently the criteria for the audit was a min. $50 spend with at least one ticket, so clubs strategys play a big part in the actual member numbers.

Ok. So that would involve the $50 interstate memberships that the crows sell,which gets you the game played in that state, as well as 3 game and Victorian memberships.

[whufc]

Are Adelaide now officially not the team for all South Australians

[Booney]

Are Adelaide now officially not the team for all South Australians

They never were.

[bennymacca]

Are Adelaide now officially not the team for all South Australians

They never were.

since when did Port Adelaideans count for anything

[Jim05]

Membership stats are always a contentious issue with that many differant membership types. With 3 game memberships counted the same as a full season membership it will always make the figures higher. At the end of the day its all about profit though regardless of membership size its more about $ per membership. Will have to wait until this years figures are done but I know last year Essendon's 55,000 members made the club a stack more than Hawthorn and Collingwood who had 70,000 members. I dont know the costs of other clubs memberships or types of memberships to compare them to ours though

[bennymacca]

Membership stats are always a contentious issue with that many differant membership types. With 3 game memberships counted the same as a full season membership it will always make the figures higher. At the end of the day its all about profit though regardless of membership size its more about $ per membership. Will have to wait until this years figures are done but I know last year Essendon's 55,000 members made the club a stack more than Hawthorn and Collingwood who had 70,000 members. I dont know the costs of other clubs memberships or types of memberships to compare them to ours though

yep, it is certainly complex - Similarly, Adelaide made 40% more from membership and ticket sales in 2014 compared to 2013, but still made a loss due to writing down assets and giving some cash to the SANFL.

[Booney]

I think you've got two options.

You consider the myriad of membership alternatives, 11 game, 3 game, interstate, kids, dogs, profit from them etc....and you'll never arrive at anything that could be apples vs apples.

Or, you can take the numbers tabled in it's "simplest" form as the best gauge coupled with home game attendances. I think that is about the best gauge to see how clubs are tracking.

Of course, more complex issues like TPP, coaching department payment, stadium deals, profit from memberships get to the bottom line....

[Wedgie]

Are MCC or Etihad members counted for Victorian clubs like Adelaide Oval members are counted for Adelaide and Port?
Wouldn't this severely dent the numbers of clubs who don't play at stadiums which are multi purpose or have more than one club based at that ground?

[another grub]

However you read it Ports impact/growth over the last 3 seasons has been remarkable. Congratulations to them coming from where they have on what looked a hopeless situation a few years ago. They deliver a great match day experience.

[bennymacca]

Are MCC or Etihad members counted for Victorian clubs like Adelaide Oval members are counted for Adelaide and Port?
Wouldn't this severely dent the numbers of clubs who don't play at stadiums which are multi purpose or have more than one club based at that ground?

Good question. It might also explain how there are 36000 Melbourne members! Haha.

Surely a ratio as mentioned in the article by Booney is not required in this day and age - It wouldnt be hard for those Adelaide Oval Members to specify how they would like to be counted

However you read it Ports impact/growth over the last 3 seasons has been remarkable. Congratulations to them coming from where they have on what looked a hopeless situation a few years ago. They deliver a great match day experience.

For sure.

[hawks21]

One question, does Ports membership tally include SANFL Magpie membership numbers, can you still get those?

Also a Port mate told it was $55 cheaper for an 11 game GA membership than Adelaide in 2015 (Member of both). If you have a family of 4 that’s quite a lot cheaper to attend the football.

Port were also a strong chance to win the premiership in 2015 so not surprising there membership numbers have gone up. And not surprised Adelaide's numbers are down, coach was sacked and realistically didn’t have a chance of being successful.

Being a paid up member is one thing, actually turning up to the games when your team is struggling is another....

[Jim05]

Are MCC or Etihad members counted for Victorian clubs like Adelaide Oval members are counted for Adelaide and Port?
Wouldn't this severely dent the numbers of clubs who don't play at stadiums which are multi purpose or have more than one club based at that ground?

MCC members are not counted

[bennymacca]

Are MCC or Etihad members counted for Victorian clubs like Adelaide Oval members are counted for Adelaide and Port?
Wouldn't this severely dent the numbers of clubs who don't play at stadiums which are multi purpose or have more than one club based at that ground?

MCC members are not counted

Holy Crap!!

As at the end of the last membership season (August 31, 2014) there were approximately 103,400 MCC members, which comprises 62,400 Full members and 41,000 Restricted members.
There are also more than 236,000 waiting list candidates.

[stan]

Are MCC or Etihad members counted for Victorian clubs like Adelaide Oval members are counted for Adelaide and Port?
Wouldn't this severely dent the numbers of clubs who don't play at stadiums which are multi purpose or have more than one club based at that ground?

MCC members are not counted

Holy Crap!!

As at the end of the last membership season (August 31, 2014) there were approximately 103,400 MCC members, which comprises 62,400 Full members and 41,000 Restricted members.
There are also more than 236,000 waiting list candidates.

Yeah you wony be moving up the list all that quickly mate.