Demons outline plan to lure MCC members

[7zark7]

Not sure if this has been put up on here...couldn't find it. Anyway this sounds like a great idea for the MFC.

http://www.theage.com.au/realfooty/...ure-mcc-members/2007/02/27/1172338624164.html

THE divide that for more than a quarter of a century has split Melbourne's support between the football club and the Melbourne Cricket Club may soon be crossed.

The Demons, with co-operation from both the AFL and MCC, have created a heavily discounted new category of membership designed to entice the 21,000 MCC members who support the football club into sharing not only their passion for both clubs but their dollars, as well.

Last year, an MCC member needed to buy a full MFC membership to make a financial contribution to the football club that was recognised by the AFL — something fewer than 3000 MCC members did in 2006.

From this year, a $40 outlay will enable MCC members to be registered MFC members — a plan that, if it succeeds, has the capacity to transform the Demons' lowly membership into one of the largest in the AFL competition.

Melbourne finished with fewer than 25,000 members last year, the second-lowest figure in the game. Its support fell below that of the Western Bulldogs and only marginally bettered the Kangaroos. If the club lures even half of its MCC supporters with the new membership it would suddenly boast 35,000 members and move into the top half of the membership ladder.

According to Melbourne Football Club chief executive Steve Harris, a membership figure approaching 40,000 by 2008 would better reflect the true size of Melbourne's support and, even at a discounted rate, offer the Demons not only symbolic cachet but tangible benefits.

"One of the big reasons the club has suffered economically since the split with the MCC in the 1980s has been this Berlin wall that has separated our supporters — divided them into football club members or MCC members," Harris said yesterday.

"There is only a small percentage who are both.

"When we have almost 25,000 football club members but nearly that number again on the MCC side which we haven't been able to capture, if this works we have the capacity to build our membership into a force of something like 40,000 over the next couple of years. That won't translate into 40,000 paying $150 each for a full membership but what it does is give us the ability to more capably market ourselves, our merchandise and events and functions, and create a sense of ourselves as a big club which, if you add the two halves of our support together, we are."

Harris said it first took agreement from both the AFL and MCC for the Demons to introduce the new membership category and that the concept will be revisited at the end of 2008 to evaluate its worth and possible availability to other clubs, especially Essendon and Carlton, who also have supporters who are MCC members.

"It's clear that the more revenue a club has the better its prospects of success are," Harris said.

"Membership can be a big source of revenue and our club has been down near the bottom of the AFL club membership ladder for some time and that's largely the consequence of having 20,000-plus supporters paying $450-500 a year to the MCC, largely to come and watch us play games, who are not MFC members. There's no doubt that has held us back."

 

[PHX]

Uh, but they wouldnt be ticketed so when the AFL released the official figures at June 30 they'd still be near the bottom.

Although they could brag about TOTAL members I suppose.

 

[DeeHughMan]

i also think it is a great idea. it will unite the two sides a lot more. melbourne has much more supporters than people think. me, my brother, sister, dad and a lot of other people who we sit with would all sign up. it would be great for those who cannot afford to pay for a full member of the footy club to still be a member just like others.

 

[ManWithNoName]

So obviously the "You only have to give up one coffee a week" plan didn't work?

 

[DeeHughMan]

Uh, but they wouldnt be ticketed so when the AFL released the official figures at June 30 they'd still be near the bottom.

Although they could brag about TOTAL members I suppose.

i dont care less about the membership tally do you? it would have corporate and fundraising benefits. the intial outlay would be small but the club would directly be able to access these people for fundraising. it would unite the supporter base.

 

[fearlessone77]

Yes but how many drive Range Rovers, that is the true indication.

 

[PHX]

i dont care less about the membership tally do you? it would have corporate and fundraising benefits. the intial outlay would be small but the club would directly be able to access these people for fundraising. it would unite the supporter base.

Well I'm interested in it.

Just that the whole article is about membership gain basically.

 

[DeeHughMan]

Well I'm interested in it.

Just that the whole article is about membership gain basically.

its not about membership gain at all. it is about the football club embracing all of it supporter base both the mfc and mcc members. this could only make the mfc a stronger club. this is what makes the mfc different from all the other clubs. half of its supporters who go to support the team each week are not recognised enough. yes they choose not to buy both memberships for whatever reason. for all i care they can do a similar thing for collingwood and essendon who also have a number of mcc members. this could make one of the weaker victorian teams a lot stronger and united as a supporter base. that can only be good for the competition

 

[- PC -]

May as well be me

I thought this was a plan to recruit the ski lodge staff to tell people to go home and watch the games live

 

[Black Panther]

The Melbourne Hawks have run this same story every 2-3 years for the past 20 years about the new grand plan to get MCC members to become MFC members

 

[Cap]

I can't believe they haven't been doing that already ?

the crows have had that kind of membership for years.

I'm a SANFL member and a Crows Gold member.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Uh, but they wouldnt be ticketed so when the AFL released the official figures at June 30 they'd still be near the bottom.

Although they could brag about TOTAL members I suppose.

I'm pretty sure this would allow the cheaper memberships to be included in the total figure, but I could be wrong.

 

[Higgs Boson]

Yep, I think that's why the club needed permission from the AFL.

 

[mjr_42]

There's no "I think" about it. That's the whole crux of the article.

This new $40 membership allows those members to be counted as official voting (or "ticketed" members) for the purposes of the official membership tally.

If 40 per cent of the MCC members that support Melbourne take up this option, the MFC suddenly has 36,000 members.

 

[AlecDuncan]

Not sure if this has been put up on here...couldn't find it. Anyway this sounds like a great idea for the MFC.

I wonder if the MCC problem is the main reason why Essendon moved to Toilet Dome. That way you can sell your members a high-end club membership instead of having them sit on the northern wing of the MCG and get nothing.

I can almost understand why clubs don't play more games at the MCG when I think about that. If only TD was cheaper to run.

 

[Chewy]

Hopefully the Melbourne Football club will also give each newly-signed MCC member a pamphlet with the words to their club song, a list of some the basic laws of the game and also a team-sheet with numbers and photos of each of the players.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Nothing new in Melbourne's proposal - in fact I thought it already happened. A $40 member is not really a member at all. Its a $40 hat that they are selling.

Its Melbournes answer to Hawthorn signing cats, dogs and budgies as Members.

 

[HBF]

If they can get all of them, which I doubt, but they are looking at $1M a year from these sales. Hardly a sum of money that you would turn down.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

If they can get all of them, which I doubt, but they are looking at $1M a year from these sales. Hardly a sum of money that you would turn down.

Exactly.

Not to mention the added lure to sponsors and the AFL itself with an increased membership total putting us just below the heavyweights.

MFC has needed something like this for years and hopefully at least half of the MCC MFC supporters will buy up. It would be pretty pathetic if they didnt. I mean whats $40? Thats one round of drinks.

 

[Rob]

What a load of crap this is. If there are so many MCC members that support Melbourne, why are their crowds at the MCG against interstate sides generally sh*thouse? If these MCC members that supposedly support Melbourne can't even be bothered showing up to Melbourne matches, they're hardly likely to want to dip into their pockets.

 

[CaptainDavey]

What a load of crap this is. If there are so many MCC members that support Melbourne, why are their crowds at the MCG against interstate sides generally sh*thouse? If these MCC members that supposedly support Melbourne can't even be bothered showing up to Melbourne matches, they're hardly likely to want to dip into their pockets.

Kinda hard to sell out 3/4's of the MCG when you're playing Port on a Sunday afternoon mate...It's the G' we're talking about. We're pretty consistent with the crowds we get to all sorts of games. Of course we're going to have lower numbers against interstate teams but more often than not we bring up a good crowd for our fellow Victorians.

As for the MCC members, it's hard to tell. I'm a dual member myself and I'd rock up rain or shine, but I would have thought given that everyone is a member, more incentive to rock up to a game rather than be a supporter who is part of an expensive club. It's more inclusive. People are sheep believe it or not...As bad as the truth is

 

[Rob]

Kinda hard to sell out 3/4's of the MCG when you're playing Port on a Sunday afternoon mate...It's the G' we're talking about. We're pretty consistent with the crowds we get to all sorts of games. Of course we're going to have lower numbers against interstate teams but more often than not we bring up a good crowd for our fellow Victorians.

Well duh, you don't reckon that's because your opponent brings along a few supporters with them? That's why I said interstate teams, because obviously they don't bring along the same numbers of fans with them.

That's why I don't get this concept that there are tens of thousands of MCC members that are Melbourne supporters - if that were true, while that wouldn't reflect in the Melbourne membership, it would most certainly reflect in higher crowds to MCG matches. It doesn't. Melbourne's crowds against interstate teams are right down there in the bottom echelon of the league, because MCC members simply do not rock up to support Melbourne. This proves 1 of 2 things - either there is already a huge chunk of Melbourne members that are MCG members (i.e they can't show up on both their MFC and MCC membership), or it's a complete myth that there are big numbers of serious MFC supporters that are MCC but not MFC members.

 

[Smell The Glove]

Hopefully the Melbourne Football club will also give each newly-signed MCC member a pamphlet with the words to their club song, a list of some the basic laws of the game and also a team-sheet with numbers and photos of each of the players.

Haha, thats GOLD

 

[Marns]

Yes but how many drive Range Rovers, that is the true indication.

 

[Ted Ed Fred]

Good news for the Dees

Nice to see a Vic club taking a proactive approach instead of relying on handouts, though Melbourne are lucky they have this resource right on their doorstep.