Club Mgmt. EFC Membership 2014- ALL TIME RECORD - 60K TARGET REACHED!)

[Whispering_Jack]

Membership campaign is getting launched early February.

Thanks random new person with no avatar....

 

[rines]

LOL, I'm pretty sure there are a heap of clubs that would love to get 40K+ members BEFORE the official membership launch!!

In fact there a multiple clubs that would love to get 40K members full stop.

 

[rines]

In fact NM just passed 24K.. so they are over half way there.. good for them!

 

[table tennis]

In fact NM just passed 24K.. so they are over half way there.. good for them!

Who???

 

[Tassieboy]

41,050 today.

Whilst it becomes a bit of a dick measuring contest, for interests sake, MCG clubs have far superior raw membership numbers than Docklands clubs. Our closest competitor in terms of size and home ground is Carlton who currently have 30,400. So we're over 10k ahead of them which is a very positive sign.

Of the Melbourne clubs, we're behind the major MCG tenants - Collingwood, Hawthorn and Richmond.

Of course it would be great if we could have a breakdown of numbers, but we don't.

 

[CourtzMajora]

41,529

 

[Doss]

42,689 as of today.

 

[Tassieboy]

42,958. Good growth continuing. Now at our 3rd highest ever figure, after 56,173 in 2013, and 47,780 in 2012.

 

[Maddogm]

didn't we hit 50,000 in one of 2011/2012?

 

[DonsRule]

didn't we hit 50,000 in one of 2011/2012?

2011

 

[Tassieboy]

2011

The AFL didn't officially count it as 50k though in their final tally.

 

[CourtzMajora]

Passed 43K

43,260

 

[Essendonia]

44,182 - 3/2/14

 

[VelvetSledge]

16,000 to go.

 

[Tassieboy]

Interesting to have a look at comparisons with the other Melbourne clubs and how we have slipped to 4th despite being the 2nd biggest Melbourne club. Plenty of untapped revenue as previously mentioned in this thread. What's positive is that our membership growth is exceeding all three clubs above us. Also, Carlton are really struggling.

In comparison with the other Victorian clubs:

Collingwood: 65,801
Hawthorn: 53,105
Richmond: 48,518
Essendon: 44,182
--
Carlton: 33,928
Geelong: 30,846
North Melbourne: 25,656
Melbourne: 25,416
St Kilda: 20,849
Western Bulldogs: 20,280

 

[Essendonia]

Interesting to have a look at comparisons with the other Melbourne clubs and how we have slipped to 4th despite being the 2nd biggest Melbourne club. Plenty of untapped revenue as previously mentioned in this thread. What's positive is that our membership growth is exceeding all three clubs above us. Also, Carlton are really struggling.

In comparison with the other Victorian clubs:

Collingwood: 65,801
Hawthorn: 53,105
Richmond: 48,518
Essendon: 44,182
--
Carlton: 33,928
Geelong: 30,846
North Melbourne: 25,656
Melbourne: 25,416
St Kilda: 20,849
Western Bulldogs: 20,280

Collingwood since Eddie came in has thrived on and off-field, and its PR exposure is huge. In the past decade, this success has translated to a massive increase in membership, derived from a huge existing supporter base which expands.

Hawthorn is benefitting from its on-field success and pet memberships.

Richmond has a massive supporter base, who have actually jumped on board again now that they have a semblance of a finals side, and we have steadily increased our membership base during a non-successful period as team improves on-field.

Carlton's lack of success, despite recent finals appearances, may have contributed to their membership tally, but you would still expect them to be higher.

 

[Tassieboy]

I wonder if the crap for the early-2000s has really come back to bite Carlton now and they haven't won a premiership for nearly 20 years.

 

[Old Campaigner]

I wonder if the crap for the early-2000s has really come back to bite Carlton now and they haven't won a premiership for nearly 20 years.

Yes, and I think most sane Carlton fans know that it is unlikely that they'll come close to winning a flag with their current batch of stars. I don't think I'd be keen on spending big on a club that at very, very best could scrape the top 4 and not get much further than that before needing a full rebuild.

 

[Essendonia]

I wonder if the crap for the early-2000s has really come back to bite Carlton now and they haven't won a premiership for nearly 20 years.

That would have to be it. Still, must be a reflection of the fans, rather than the club.

If they can't get a GF out of Murphy, Gibbs, etc (which I expect they won't) could be a long period of low-impact from a 'power' club. To be honest, I was hoping that we'd be looking at the big 4 battling it out in the finals over the next couple of seasons (which may happen).

 

[Whispering_Jack]

Yes, and I think most sane Carlton fans know that it is unlikely that they'll come close to winning a flag with their current batch of stars. I don't think I'd be keen on spending big on a club that at very, very best could scrape the top 4 and not get much further than that before needing a full rebuild.

I don't see why the current on field position of a club should sway genuine supporters/members. You shouldn't be upping your membership because you can smell success, you should be sticking with the club no matter where they are in 'the cycle'...

 

[rines]

I don't see why the current on field position of a club should sway genuine supporters/members. You shouldn't be upping your membership because you can smell success, you should be sticking with the club no matter where they are in 'the cycle'...

True in theory but not in practise.. success has always brought in more members and there is no doubt that is what is leading the huge resurgence in signed up members for Richmond...

Hawthorn also offers a TAS membership offer (and the pets) but it was estimated that the revenue they generated last year from their 63K odd 'members' was about the same as we did with 56K... so I'm not that worried on that front.

Collingwood goes from strength to strength and is, unfortunately, about five years ahead of us now in terms of marketing and membership, however the club is taking steps to bridge the gap (finally!!).

The thing holding us back now is Etihad.. the sooner we move to the MCG the better.. it will be the key to us reaching the heights of Pies and Tigers..

I actually have to respect the Tiger fans.. how you keep that strong supporter base after essentially 30 years of wilderness is an awesome effort!!

 

[Paul_Barnard]

True in theory but not in practise.. success has always brought in more members and there is no doubt that is what is leading the huge resurgence in signed up members for Richmond...

Hawthorn also offers a TAS membership offer (and the pets) but it was estimated that the revenue they generated last year from their 63K odd 'members' was about the same as we did with 56K... so I'm not that worried on that front.

Collingwood goes from strength to strength and is, unfortunately, about five years ahead of us now in terms of marketing and membership, however the club is taking steps to bridge the gap (finally!!).

The thing holding us back now is Etihad.. the sooner we move to the MCG the better.. it will be the key to us reaching the heights of Pies and Tigers..

I actually have to respect the Tiger fans.. how you keep that strong supporter base after essentially 30 years of wilderness is an awesome effort!!

Dont think we will be moving to the MCG anytime soon. We get the best deal out of all the clubs from Etihad as their 'premier' team who draws the big games.
Etihad is the reason we dont have membership numbers where Collingwood is imo as there are only 55k seats available after all.
Not to worry though, i think you will find we still make more financially from memberships than any other club bar the Pies....
Still is it restricting our growth?

 

[Whispering_Jack]

Dont think we will be moving to the MCG anytime soon. We get the best deal out of all the clubs from Etihad as their 'premier' team who draws the big games.
Etihad is the reason we dont have membership numbers where Collingwood is imo as there are only 55k seats available after all.
Not to worry though, i think you will find we still make more financially from memberships than any other club bar the Pies....
Still is it restricting our growth?

It will come to a point where you need to weigh up whether it is costing us commercially because we cannot get enough members seeing the footy each week. It could stifle growth in supporters because people know they can't see their team play live. While moving might be less favourable financially in the short term, the benefit of allowing more people to see us live must be considered.

 

[Doss]

44,270 members as of today.

 

[Amen Corner]

Dont think we will be moving to the MCG anytime soon. We get the best deal out of all the clubs from Etihad as their 'premier' team who draws the big games.
Etihad is the reason we dont have membership numbers where Collingwood is imo as there are only 55k seats available after all.
Not to worry though, i think you will find we still make more financially from memberships than any other club bar the Pies....
Still is it restricting our growth?

There's no doubt that being an anchor tenant at Etihad is holding back the club's growth membership wise. Yes, as Graeme McMahon stated in 1997 "no club will receive a better deal than Essendon", Carton has the same financial deal as Essendon with a much shorter term (Carlton signed on for 10 years and Essendon 25 years!). There is a reason EFC brought in the "Flexi" membership. This membership would be totally unnecessary had the club been based at the G. The whole point of the Flexi is that people can pick and choose their games (subject to capacity) and sit with friends/family who are not members with reserved seats, the only problem being, there's only about 3 games at Etihad where this is a legitimate option without sitting in the nosebleeds. The reserved seating issue at Etihad is a major thorn in the side of the club attracting new members, the AFL fixturing high drawing games against the likes of Hawthorn and Geelong at Etihad while we play Melbourne at the G also doesn't help. Had the club had the same flexibility as Collingwood being a tenant at the G, I think you'd find Essendon closer to the 65-70,000 range than the 50-60,000 range. A work colleague and his wife want to join as High Mark members but the club has told them it's fully subscribed and they can only join as Silver, but they cannot sit with me on level 2 (High Mark area) unless I downgrade. How ridiculous is that?! It would not happen had we been an MCG tenant.