Resource 2024 Membership thread - it begins - with a kiss

[Chadwiko]

Further to this he also advised that the Centre Wing will still have rows A to G in aisles 35 to 39 so no change there. This leaves North in control (his words) of rows H to L in aisles 35 to 39.

What?!

I had premiership club reserved seats in Row D, Aisle 39. And there were plenty of us in similar seats! From Row A all the way to the back, we had premiership club members in those seats!

So they're saying they've lost/sold these seats back to the 'Centre Wing' Marvel stadium membership?

 

[kool kangas]

Okay folks this gets messier - here is the email response from Jen Watt which I received about 2.30pm today.
I’m not sure where we stand and who to believe right now.
I’ll have more as she indicated the membership manager would call me today with further options.
Anyway here’s the response -

Firstly, thank you for contacting us and for your long-term support of the club. I understand your frustrations. Your seats are some of the ones that have been negatively impacted by the outcomes of the redevelopment.

The bottom line is the redevelopment has resulted to changes in the way seats are allocated at the venue. This is primarily as a result of new dining and function facilities that have seats attached to them.

With regard to the changes, the Club has endeavoured to create a seating model for members that aligns our product offerings by bringing members close to the new amenities and clears up some of the existing confusion around reserved bays and specific reserved seats. It also allows the Club to map our seating plan for the foreseeable future and to limit future disruptions to members seating. I know this will be of little consolation to you right now, as it is your seats that are being impacted.

The team has worked hard to impact as few members as possible and to try to accommodate anyone who has been impacted by working through individual solutions. 11 seats together is tricky but I know Cal will continue to work to find a solution and indeed, will continue to explore options in future years should better seats become available for your group than what might be achievable this year. I have spoken to Cal today and he has a couple of other scenarios that may be possible for your group. He will be in touch this afternoon.

I want to be clear that there has been no intention to mislead members. The AFL and Marvel designed the redevelopment with the new corporate function rooms attached to premium seating. Stadiums will always be designed in this way to maximise revenue attached to the best seats. The commercial opportunities created by the rooms in this location, must be utilised by the Club to maximise their commercial potential. This is a commercial reality and our club must optimise the opportunity of the function spaces. All clubs will be impacted by the changes.

Kind Regards,

Jen

​ ​ ​ Jennifer Watt​ Chief Executive Officer​

Thanks for that however the big thing to note is the last sentence...........All clubs will be impacted by the changes .. which doesnt seem to be happening going by the Essendon and Blues memberships.

At least they might be looking after you, which they should, with 11 memberships...

 

[wolvesRoos]

And if this is true, then who is going to be sitting in aisles 35-39?

Just sold to anyone

 

[hilly]

The MCC in Jen is alive and well it seems.

Do not get me started. Selling visitor tickets to finals whilst members miss out.

 

[kool kangas]

l know 1 thing if North dont own up about this then "IF" Ben McKay

32

Ben Mckay

Age

27

Ht

202cm

Wt

104kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.5

2star

K

3.7

1star

HB

3.8

3star

M

2.7

3star

T

1.7

4star

MG

77.2

1star

D

7.5

2star

K

4.5

2star

HB

3.0

2star

M

2.5

3star

T

1.5

2star

MG

88.5

2star

D

7.0

2star

K

3.4

2star

HB

3.6

3star

M

2.4

3star

T

2.0

4star

MG

67.8

1star

leaves l wont be sponsoring any other players..And you can quote me on that!!

Also if they ask me why then l will tell them "why should l help the club with the way that they treat members.."

 

[tazaa]

Well I’ve just spoken to Calum the membership manager and I’ve been moved to aisle 34 rows M and N. It’s one aisle to the right and 4 rows from where I was sitting so I’m happy about that.
However there’s a story brewing here and I can’t get them to the point of admitting it.
There are 2 new dining rooms in aisles 35 to 39. The small one is Horizon and it’s for the Arden Lodge so the bays on the map are correct. The other room is bigger and called Skyline. Now comes the good bit - Skyline will have rows M to U at the back of the aisles other than the Arden Lodge area as walk ups for the diners. Further to this he also advised that the Centre Wing will still have rows A to G in aisles 35 to 39 so no change there. This leaves North in control (his words) of rows H to L in aisles 35 to 39.
Now I’ve probed and probed as to what they plan to do with these seats and the responses were very non committal. Personally I think North are pulling a swifty with those 5 aisles but the response is more like the AFL are the ones who haven’t designated what’s happening with those seats.
The claim that other clubs won’t be affected MAY be correct if they only have seats in that H to L row range but they are adamant all clubs are affected.
To me this looks like they are planning on using the seats in aisles 35 to 39 rows H to L for corporates or some such as they are continually referred in conversation as those new padded seats.
Therefore although I have managed to limit the damage on my tickets I fear North are not being entirely truthful with the why and then the how those seats will be used.

Sad to say mate but North will never come out and tell you or any other member caught up what the real reason is.
Also to mitigate the blowback, I doubt the club is now going to come out and acknowledge this publicly. There will be absolutely no comment. As Chad referenced earlier, if this a North decision then who cares. Its not a story.
What they are hoping for is for the initial anger and frustration to die down, and then eventually everyone gets over it and moves on. This is the North way of handling things.
They will tell you as much as they are willing to say in a phone call and via email, until you feel like you are acting over the top.

No one shits on its members like North. NO ONE.

 

[KickItAnywhere34]

Just sold to anyone

Yeah my phone call I tried to probe this issue and said well if you’re in control give me my original seats back - the response was no I can’t do that they are the new padded seats etc. I truly think North are pulling a swifty with those seats in rows H to L aisles 35 to 39. They continue to not be entirely truthful.
However I’m happy that I’ve had my seats moved again to aisle 34 so I’ll give them a pass on that.

 

[sketcher]

So are they going to actually police who is sitting where? No one at Marvel/NMFC seemed to care before when oppo supporters walked into our bays, stupidly marked as 'general admission'. What's to bet next year they'll have twenty guards on each aisle protecting the corporates from the riff raff

 

[shintemaster]

Sad to say mate but North will never come out and tell your any other member caught up in this the real reason.
Also to mitigate the blowback, I doubt the club is now going to come out and acknowledge this publicly.
What they are hoping for is for the initial anger and frustration to die down as we all proceed to get on with life. This is the North way of handling things.
They will tell as much as they are willing to say in a phone call and via email, until you feel like you are acting over the top.

No one shits on its members like North. NO ONE.

They'll announce another Hobart game tomorrow for 2024 onwards as a distraction.

When this makes **** all extra money they'll never concede it was the wrong move. BTW - I will never pay for another function at this club again until they get their shit together and stop treating members as an inconvenience. No ****ing raffle tickets, no buying sponsors stuff as a show of support. Nothing.

 

[hilly]

So are they going to actually police who is sitting where? No one at Marvel/NMFC seemed to care before when oppo supporters walked into our bays, stupidly marked as 'general admin'. What's to bet next year they'll have twenty guards on each aisle protecting the corporates from the riff raff

'GENERAL ADMISSION'

 

[blackshadow]

I got a reply my email this afternoon which was slightly different to what KIA shared.

This particular para is of concern to me.

To answer your question about the seats on the wing, the bottom line is the Marvel redevelopment has resulted to changes in the way seats are allocated at the venue. This is primarily as a result of new dining and function facilities that have seats attached to them. The AFL and Marvel have designed the redevelopment with the new corporate function rooms attached to premium seating on the wing. Stadiums are generally designed this way to maximise commercial opportunities. The commercial opportunities created by the rooms in this location, must be utilised by the Club to maximise their use and our commercial opportunities.

 

[sketcher]

Yeah my phone call I tried to probe this issue and said well if you’re in control give me my original seats back - the response was no I can’t do that they are the new padded seats etc. I truly think North are pulling a swifty with those seats in rows H to L aisles 35 to 39. They continue to not be entirely truthful.
However I’m happy that I’ve had my seats moved again to aisle 34 so I’ll give them a pass on that.

I'm glad you've gotten a good result - so you should with 11 memberships!! Unfortunately thousands of others are getting shat on by the club and won't get the result you have. We need to fight them collectively on this issue or they will continue to treat us like crap.

 

[kool kangas]

So this is the treatment we are going to have to live with from Corporate Jen and her MCC ideas...

 

[PokerRoo]

Yeah my phone call I tried to probe this issue and said well if you’re in control give me my original seats back - the response was no I can’t do that they are the new padded seats etc. I truly think North are pulling a swifty with those seats in rows H to L aisles 35 to 39. They continue to not be entirely truthful.
However I’m happy that I’ve had my seats moved again to aisle 34 so I’ll give them a pass on that.

Sounds like Marvel have made those specific seats more "premium", and thats why they can't offer them to you at your current membership price. Will probably wait a year, use them for whatever they can this coming season, and then open up a more expensive package for them the following season. They obviously have some sort of plan for them. What it is will eventually be known.

It all sounds relatively reasonable, except the extremely poor communication of it all. If they had access to the seats you eventually got, they should have been offered to you (and others who have being paying for these seats for the last 20+ years) at the beginning. Poorly communicated, and poorly planned. For someone (Jen) who as worked in membership before, and the MCC it has not been handled well.

 

[Chadwiko]

I'm making some assumptions and deductions here, so don't take this as gospel.

HOWEVER:

• Premiership Club/Schimma Club members in bays 35-39 have been told to move.
• Essendon/Carlton reserved seat members in the same bays have not been impacted, supposedly (although we don't have 'hard' confirmation of this).
• According to KickItAnywhere34, he was told that "[Marvel Stadium] Centre Wing will still have rows A to G in aisles 35 to 39", with the implication that this was the case last season (it wasn't).

This really, really makes it sound like the club has either lost access to, or sold the seats in bays 35-39 in rows A to G to the 'Centre Wing' premium service that Marvel Stadium operates.

 

[sketcher]

I got a reply my email this afternoon which was slightly different to what KIA shared.

This particular para is of concern to me.

To answer your question about the seats on the wing, the bottom line is the Marvel redevelopment has resulted to changes in the way seats are allocated at the venue. This is primarily as a result of new dining and function facilities that have seats attached to them. The AFL and Marvel have designed the redevelopment with the new corporate function rooms attached to premium seating on the wing. Stadiums are generally designed this way to maximise commercial opportunities. The commercial opportunities created by the rooms in this location, must be utilised by the Club to maximise their use and our commercial opportunities.

Yep - and this is why we will be affected and not the big clubs. We are selling our soul - great way to save $$$ North. If we need the money that badly we really are in trouble. Will be interesting to see what the Dogs and Saints do. Esp the dogs.

 

[tazaa]

I got a reply my email this afternoon which was slightly different to what KIA shared.

This particular para is of concern to me.

To answer your question about the seats on the wing, the bottom line is the Marvel redevelopment has resulted to changes in the way seats are allocated at the venue. This is primarily as a result of new dining and function facilities that have seats attached to them. The AFL and Marvel have designed the redevelopment with the new corporate function rooms attached to premium seating on the wing. Stadiums are generally designed this way to maximise commercial opportunities. The commercial opportunities created by the rooms in this location, must be utilised by the Club to maximise their use and our commercial opportunities.

This is nothing more than a cash grab.
As our HIGHEST paying members we are saying thank by taking your seats off you next year, where you can now glance over and watch corporate shills enjoy the new freshly padded seats from over on the flank. But we still value you as a member!

Oh and btw to all those members who have been moved from the wing to the flank, your membership went up by $70. Just as a f*** you. Or thank you.
Cost of living is making it tough for the club, so that cost needs to be passed onto you. But we still value you as a member!

Oh and thank you for donating a years worth of your membership during Covid.
We will never forget who was there for us in our time of need. And we still value you as a member!

 

[kool kangas]

What?!

I had premiership club reserved seats in Row D, Aisle 39. And there were plenty of us in similar seats! From Row A all the way to the back, we had premiership club members in those seats!

So they're saying they've lost/sold these seats back to the 'Centre Wing' Marvel stadium membership?

Surely this will affect ALL home clubs ?

 

[gokangas]

If I read this right it is all about NM maximising the return from premium seating, regardless of any existing loyalties to long term members. NM choice rather than Marvel/AFL.

 

[wolvesRoos]

So are they going to actually police who is sitting where? No one at Marvel/NMFC seemed to care before when oppo supporters walked into our bays, stupidly marked as 'general admission'. What's to bet next year they'll have twenty guards on each aisle protecting the corporates from the riff raff

Exactly I am not to stressed as once your in on level 2 u can sit where u want. If there are empty corporate seats just go sit there no one will stop u. U just move if the paying owner turns up

 

[Hojuman]

Side note;

I went to the Pies v Brions game a couple of weeks at Marvel ago with a mate down from Brisvegas who bought tickets online.
L2, dead centre wing, perfect viewing seats, padded, cup holder, but very little leg room. We were surrounded by very polite quiet Pies and Lions supporters in a very unlike Friday night footy experience.

 

[blackshadow]

Surely this will affect ALL home clubs ?

Not sure on that. The way I read my reply is that the Club thinks they can make more money from those seats through functions.

 

[Chadwiko]

Side note;

I went to the Pies v Brions game a couple of weeks at Marvel ago with a mate down from Brisvegas who bought them online.
L2, dead centre wing, perfect viewing seats, padded, cup holder, but very little leg room. We were surrounded by very polite quiet Pies and Lions supporters in a very unlike Friday night footy experience.

Which side of the stadium?

Wurundjeri Way side, or Harbour side?

If Wurundjeri Way side, those are the members seats we're losing.

If Harbour side, those are the premium seats we've never had access to.

 

[KickItAnywhere34]

If I read this right it is all about NM maximising the return from premium seating, regardless of any existing loyalties to long term members. NM choice rather than Marvel/AFL.

From my phone call I got that impression…..

 

[Hojuman]

Which side of the stadium?

Wurundjeri Way side, or Harbour side?

If Wurundjeri Way side, those are the members seats we're losing.

If Harbour side, those are the premium seats we've never had access to.

Wurundjeri. Our members side.