AFL fans commitment to club membership

[The Wheel]

Thought this was interesting that AFL premiers have signed up 30K members where as we have just under 3k.  Will NRL clubs ever be able to get to this level??

Hawks sign 30,000 fans
December 24, 2008

REIGNING premier Hawthorn is the first Victorian club to sign up more than 30,000 members before Christmas.

The Hawks already have 30,087 members paid up for the 2009 season, an increase of 57 per cent from the same time last year. With 22 per cent of them new members, the club is confident of breaking last year's record membership of 41,686.

"The team has shown over the last few seasons that there are exciting times ahead for the club and it is encouraging that so many supporters have backed the club as financial members," said president Jeff Kennett.

AAP

 

[Dan]

yeah but they have always had that culture, maybe in another 50 odd years with the membership culture starting to build, manly and the NRL may be able to sign up as many

 

[clontaago]

Nope, the NRL clubs will never match the AFL clubs for members.

Look at the average crowds, AFL ****s on NRL.

 

[Fluffy]

face it whilst the NRL heartland is in sydney with so many choices of woderful things to do then the crowds just cannot match Broncos/AFL crowds

 

[The Wheel]

Nope, the NRL clubs will never match the AFL clubs for members.

Look at the average crowds, AFL S**ts on NRL.

As a long term goal maybe if we could even get it to 50% of AFL instead of just 10% it would be nice

 

[Dan]

Not only that, Mexicans have always had a clan like mentality, it's always "us against them" for mexicans. I guess you do need to look at it in percentage terms

% of home game attendance, take away approx 10% for away fans attending vs the amount of members you have

It could be that they have approx 60% sign up rates, that should be our target not a number like 30k but instead 60% of attendees

 

[Corso_Pete]

Supporters of Rugby League have been traditionally members of a Leagues Club, something that is not available to AFL supporters.

I know that when I first joined the Manly Leagues Club many years ago I had no idea that  a 'football club" even existed. I simply assumed that the Leagues Club and Football Club were the same entity. Without any research I would be of the opinion that many supporters of Rugby League, not just Manly supporters were of the same opinion.

Of course during the 1970's & 80's who cared! The Leagues clubs were cash cows, whatever the NRL side needed in terms of money always seemed to be available from the Leagues Club.  Of course times changed and it was not until the Super League war erupted that I found out that my Leagues Club membership meant nothing.  Up until then I was happy enough though to pay my annual membership fee assuming it retained my right right to be a member of Manly.

I got nothing that I considered tangible for my money to be a Leagues Club member, yet tens of thousands people continued to renew their membership, a vast percentage I would guess having a similar thought process to me. Other than game day I rarely attended the club, something that continues to this day.

Interestingly in 2008 one of the reasons put forward to not being a football club member is that you get nothing for your money, something that did not seem to be a hindrance to being a member of the Leagues Club, yet from memory the annual subscription back then was something like $15 or $20, if someone is prepared to the calcs to adjust this for inflation I doubt it would be far from the current cost of the minimum membership.

 

[The Wheel]

You make a very valid point Pete, not one of have considered in this discussion.  After the formation of the Northern eagles the leagues lost 10k members the following year from memory - whihc no dout supports your view.

The way I see after attending Brookie since the 1970s the team has the following Brookvale attendance support;

1/  6k to 7k who go to virtually every home game
2/ 4k to 5k who go to most (eg 8 to 10 games per season)
3/ 4k to 5k who would go to half the games
4/ 20k to 30k who go to 3/4 games or less

That provides a 'commited' supporter base who are prepared to attend home games of approx 40k to 50k fans, yet we can only managed 3k members after a premiership season.

Not sure what the answer is interms of marketing/attracking members but there is potential to ramp up the membership in the next few years to get to at least 10k members base on the above.

 

[CC_Eagle]

Over time I can see the NRL "Football Club" numbers growing, remember the marketing blitz from all clubs regarding membership has only been flowing for the past few years. Souths (ew) have been fairly impressive in encouraging new memberships and I read something yesterday about how Ronnie Gibbs was out in the pushing pushing Manly memberships.

Like any new product we can expect a higher price initially, but as market share increases generally the price should head in the opposite direction. The big problem I see, like most is the value for money. For $200+ most of us would expect a lot more than a poster and a plastic card to keep in our wallets.

As Pete mentioned, prior to this most League fans were oblivious to the fact a seperate "Football Club" entity existed from the Leagues Club. I remember joining Manly Leagues Club assuming I now had a direct tie to Football Club.

I imagine once packages become more attractive and affordable to Mum's & Dad's things should hopefully start to kick off.


Or will it fail because areas of Sydney don't posess the same tribalism as Melbourne?

 

[Corso_Pete]

The big problem I see, like most is the value for money. For $200+ most of us would expect a lot more than a poster and a plastic card to keep in our wallets.


Or will it fail because areas of Sydney don't posess the same tribalism as Melbourne?

If we want to enjoy League in the same manner as we do today, ie supporting Manly and hating St George,Parramatta, Bulldogs et al then I don't think that club membership can be allowed to fail.

As for value for money for $170 you can get a 6 game admission to Brookie and based on last years gate price of $22.00 you are only paying $40 for the other stuff that you receive. To me not only is that good value for your dollar but it it also gets you the stuff that money can't buy, most notably priority purchase for final tickets (if the GF was Manly v another Sydney based team how many fans would miss out on getting the GF tix?)

All clubs look to be struggling in getting membership numbers up, the tribalism issue is certainly one that Melbourne wins hands down, the trick, not only for Manly but also the NRL is getting the message to fans that most clubs are running on the smell of an oily rag and without fans committing to some form of membership we may be closer to losing what we all love than what we think we are.

 

[CC_Eagle]

most clubs are running on the smell of an oily rag and without fans committing to some form of membership we may be closer to losing what we all love than what we think we are.

What is this oily rag you speak of Pete and how can I get one?

 

[The Wheel]

Entry level membership sits at only $59 and includes 1 general admission ticket ($22), 1 members hat (say $20), a calender if ordered pre 31/12, plus other stuff like stickers, membership card, lanyard etc etc. 

Not bad value IMO if you are looking for some ROI and also have comfort in the knowledge that you are providing  quantifiable support to your beloved team which gives you heaps of entertainment value every year.

 

[CC_Eagle]

Apologies gents, I haven't studied the membership packages for a good 12 months, wasn't aware the 09 packages were out.

Having studied the brochure, I'm impressed tbh, quite a bit of ROI factor in there.

That'll teach me....

 

[The Wheel]

So you will be joining up soon Grug??

 

[CC_Eagle]

Most likely.

Didn't renew in 08 as I wasn't as cashed up in Jan/Feb as I wanted to be, of course as per Mr Murphy's law, circumstances changed a few months into the season.

I'll (fingers crossed) have a concession card with me next year so it makes membership just that little bit more attractive.

 

[Dan]

I think the club could go a long way to having an "Out of Towners" membership package. There is a good chance that I wont be able to make it to any games next year and I know some elderly supporters up here who certainly can not get on a plane and make it down there.

How about knocking $22 off of the $59 package and then I might consider signing up!

A GA ticket just doesnt help when you may not make it down there

 

[missing_something]

Couldn't agree more - I like the idea of an out towners pack members pack - I'd happily pay $35 and I don’t need any of the other benefits the other pack comes with, and if I do get a chance to get down and see a couple of games I'll happily pay full price.

 

[The Wheel]

I guess the reason why they have included a 'ticket' is that to gain the full privileges of the NRL football club membership through preferential purchase of tickets to SOO, finals & Grand Final you have to be a ticketed member.

I can tell you that after the last two seasons the option of buying tickets before they go on public sale to finals footy is one of the main attractions for me (apart from having a guaranteed seat at Brookie).

Anyway you make a good point that there should be something for 'out of towners' apart from the current offers.  Having said that the difference between $35  & $59 is bugga all over 12 months.

 

[missing_something]

Anyway you make a good point that there should be something for 'out of towners' apart from the current offers.  Having said that the difference between $35  & $59 is bugga all over 12 months.

I agree and about the diffrence and I'll buy a membership this year anyway, but a lot of people wouldn't, I just think they need another option.

 

[The Wheel]

MS - as said I think you have made a valid point, I guesss what I amsaying is that the 'other fans' who need the option if they are note prepared to pay & 59 would they be prepared to pay $35??

I might have a look at what AFL clubs offer for interstate/out of town members to compare