GWS is the AFL's biggest problem - not North, GC, or Tassie

[Cmarsh]

This article paints a slightly more positive picture, particularly on merchendise, membership and crowd growth this season.

What the data says about the rise of the AFL’s northern fan base

The AFL began this season with an opening round that focused solely on the northern states. Was it worth the gamble?

www.afr.com

 

[RedV3x]

Exactly what we have been saying

Exactly what you have been saying.

I find it sad that people aren't enjoying the moment.
If this was the Matildas or Socceroos then we'd be inundated with all sort over-optimistic predictions from the media.

 

[Bjo187]

Exactly what you have been saying.

I find it sad that people aren't enjoying the moment.
If this was the Matildas or Socceroos then we'd be inundated with all sort over-optimistic predictions from the media.

Walshawk will be disappointed that the giants game tonight is almost sold out. He was hoping for an 'I told you so' moment .

 

[Canberra Pear]

*cough Part time hurts *cough

“I think we may have been not as quick to recognise that we need to be quite nuanced, quite specific and quite bespoke about how we reach into the hearts and minds of our western Sydney audience,” Auld said.

“I would say we’re taking a much more bespoke, sophisticated approach to the market."

Hopefully that means they've recognised that the part-time approach is also not the way to win hearts and minds in Western Sydney.

 

[Cmarsh]

“I think we may have been not as quick to recognise that we need to be quite nuanced, quite specific and quite bespoke about how we reach into the hearts and minds of our western Sydney audience,” Auld said.

“I would say we’re taking a much more bespoke, sophisticated approach to the market."

Hopefully that means they've recognised that the part-time approach is also not the way to win hearts and minds in Western Sydney.

They are not going to say anything about that right now while the Canberra contract is in place till 2032.

 

[Giant YoYo]

This article paints a slightly more positive picture, particularly on merchendise, membership and crowd growth this season.

What the data says about the rise of the AFL’s northern fan base

The AFL began this season with an opening round that focused solely on the northern states. Was it worth the gamble?

www.afr.com

Will post it in here for reference as it's behind a paywall.

This year’s AFL finals series could be a dream finish for new boss Andrew Dillon’s unashamedly aggressive push to expand the sport from its Victorian homeland further into non-traditional states.

Five of the eight teams that made it to finals this season are not from Melbourne – though one is just down the highway in Geelong – and at least one of them is already guaranteed to make it to the grand final.

The downside, for Melbourne fans at least, is that the city’s status as the dominant home of the code is being challenged. Case in point, neither of this weekend’s sudden-death finals are being played in Melbourne. And only two of eight finals before the grand final will be played in Melbourre, and that’s only because the MCG is counted as the Geelong Cats’ home ground for finals.

Of the six teams still in the running for the 2024 AFL Premiership heading into the weekend: two are Victorian-based (Hawthorn and Geelong), two are from Sydney (Swans and Giants), and there’s Port Adelaide and the Brisbane Lions.

Dillon opened his first season as boss with the inaugural “opening round” of games played in NSW and Queensland designed to promote the sport in rugby league heartland.

The initiative – labelled “unfair” by some frustrated Melbourne supporters, coaches, and former players – was a bullish attempt by the newly appointed chief executive to make his mark.

In an interview with BOSS this year, Dillon said the record $4.5 billion, seven-year broadcast deal signed in 2022 had allowed him to aggressively drive the game into the non-AFL states of NSW and Queensland.

It meant the AFL launched the season from Sydney with an opening round played solely in NSW and Queensland, with four local teams against Melbourne-based clubs.

If data is anything to go by, it was worth the risk. The Lions and Gold Coast Suns this week reported membership growth of 15.7 per cent and 12 per cent respectively, while the Sydney Swans and Greater Western Sydney Giants grew their membership by 12.9 per cent and 10.9 per cent.

Members are classified as fans who pay for a range of different game packages from individual clubs, Auskick members, and AFLW members. The performance of teams outside Melbourne helped the AFL’s total membership to reach a record 1.3 million this year.

The AFL earns its money from ticket sales during the finals series, and fewer games at the big Victorian stadiums – the MCG and Marvel – could mean a small financial hit.


It could also cause a fall in television viewership (though arguably the AFL would prefer a national footprint for its advertising partners).

Hunter Fujak, sports management lecturer at Melbourne’s Deakin University, says losing a couple million dollars for long-term success is worth it.

“The AFL isn’t batting an eyelid over lost revenue – the strategic value is far more valuable than MCG seats,” he says. “The centricity of AFL still exists, but it doesn’t impact their viewership of the finals just because games aren’t being played in Melbourne either.”

Eddie McGuire, the former president of Collingwood, one of the biggest Victorian clubs, says growing the game is worth the downside.

“There’s too much carry-on about being Victorian centric,” he tells AFR Weekend. “Just get the grand final into prime time and everyone will be happy.

“We’ve now got the highest-ever membership, and there’s no doubt that Swans and GWS membership in particular took off because of the focus at the start of the year. That’s a great thing. That’s starting to repay the big investment by the AFL.”

The Swans and Giants both finished the season with a record number of paying members – 73,757 and 36,629, respectively. They don’t split how many of these are junior members or from interstate – but they are indicative of the rising popularity of the code.

It isn’t just the membership that has changed.

The Giants, which have competed in seven of the last nine finals series, experienced a 19.7 per cent year-on-year increase in average attendance this season – although crowds are still modest by Victorian standards.

The club, which played its first season in 2012, says consumer revenue – merchandise, membership and ticketing – has grown by 50 per cent since 2022. It made $2 million from memberships that year (it does not break out ticketing in its annual report).

Giants chief executive David Matthews says five home games across Sydney and Canberra were sold out (the capacity of the stadiums are 23,500 and 15,000 respectively). He says the opening round brought exposure and eyeballs to the game that it didn’t previously have.


“That sort of excitement is what really helps grow the game and exposes the code to new audiences, which is precisely what we’re here to do,” he says. “It’s a concept we need to invest in and invest in over the coming years.”

In Victoria, AFL is a religion. On the east coast, there are rugby league fans and, to a lesser extent, people who watch soccer and rugby union. These fans are more likely to get behind a team or a sport if they see the on-field success, and will turn the TV off if a result goes the other way.

Fujak says the Swans and Giants would have attracted the same number of new fans this year without the opening round, purely based on their performance.

“I don’t think [opening round] made any functional difference,” he says. “It was a great PR exercise. Did it achieve anything more than what would have already been the case? I don’t think so. If you’re successful, it goes up.”

The SCG, where the Swans play home games, experienced something new this season – people visiting the grounds as frequently in winter as they do for the summer of cricket.

The average crowd for SCG members during the season was 12,132 across 11 games. The total average crowd for the season was 38,202, and the club says it sold-out five of its 11 home matches.

The Swans also said they set records for Melbourne membership growth and merchandise sales. Revenue is up 47 per cent on last year’s result – $61.8 million – and it sold 17,000 Swans scarves this year alone.

This growth is caused by several factors, including a 10-match winning to start the season and its 150th birthday celebrations.

Club chief executive Tom Harley says fixtures also played a key role.

“We were incredibly grateful for the opportunity to open the season,” he says. “Melbourne was a historically significant opponent for this match, having been the first team we played in the VFL and also the first team we played at the SCG after relocating to Sydney.

“We were fortunate to have games against some big Victorian clubs early in the season, namely Collingwood and Essendon, which no doubt added to the excitement around our team.”

Most Melbourne-based teams have an average season attendance of about 40,000, a figure that reflects the size of the stadiums where teams play, the concentration of teams in Victoria, and the size of their membership base.

“Victoria gets blockbuster games every weekend,” McGuire says.

With the absence of several Victorian-based teams in this finals series, it means fewer September matches in AFL heartland.

Marvel Stadium is home to five AFL clubs – Essendon, Carlton, North Melbourne, St Kilda, and the Western Bulldogs – and the MCG is the local stadium for Collingwood, Hawthorn, Melbourne, and Richmond. Geelong also plays a lot of its matches at the MCG.

If two Victorian teams make an AFL grand final, data suggests it will sell out fast. It doesn’t make a dramatic difference in terms of attendance at the MCG.

Excluding 2020 and 2021, the MCG has had a little over 100,000 people in attendance for every grand final since 2017. The 2016 grand final between the Swans and Bulldogs had 99,981.

As for whether the “opening round” will happen again? “We’re hopeful opening round will become a regular fixture,” Harley says. “On every metric it was a success.”

 

[Canberra Pear]

They are not going to say anything about that right now while the Canberra contract is in place till 2032.

They're not going to say anything yet, but it doesn't mean they're not talking about it behind closed doors.

 

[Colonial]

They are not going to say anything about that right now while the Canberra contract is in place till 2032.

Hopefully a sweetener along the lines of “you’re team 20”.

 

[RedV3x]

“I think we may have been not as quick to recognise that we need to be quite nuanced, quite specific and quite bespoke about how we reach into the hearts and minds of our western Sydney audience,” Auld said.

“I would say we’re taking a much more bespoke, sophisticated approach to the market."

Hopefully that means they've recognised that the part-time approach is also not the way to win hearts and minds in Western Sydney.

I read it that they were going to pay more attention to immigrant cultures, working class cultures, bogan traditions etc.

 

[catters_28]

The Afl would not have been happy with all the empty seats tonight.

Not to mention the fact that the only time the game had some atmosphere was when Brisbane were on a roll.

 

[Colonial]

The Afl would not have been happy with all the empty seats tonight.

Not to mention the fact that the only time the game had some atmosphere was when Brisbane were on a roll.

You are a ****ing idiot

 

[Cmarsh]

The Afl would not have been happy with all the empty seats tonight.

Not to mention the fact that the only time the game had some atmosphere was when Brisbane were on a roll.

Nothing wrong with that crowd. Absolutely fine.

 

[catters_28]

Nothing wrong with that crowd. Absolutely fine.

There were bays and bays of empty seats. Embarrassing

 

[Cmarsh]

There were bays and bays of empty seats. Embarrassing

Do some research and see how long it took the Melbourne Storm to get crowds consistently above 20k in week 1 and week 2 home finals.

 

[catters_28]

Do some research and see how long it took the Melbourne Storm to get crowds consistently above 20k in week 1 and week 2 home finals.

You can do that during your off season

 

[Cmarsh]

You can do that during your off season

I already know. You just don't know what you are talking about.

 

[catters_28]

I already know. You just don't know what you are talking about.

Regardless of crowd numbers, the bigger issue is that it was very clear that there were more Brisbane fans there than GWS fans. Surely this is a problem for GWS.

 

[Bjo187]

Regardless of crowd numbers, the bigger issue is that it was very clear that there were more Brisbane fans there than GWS fans. Surely this is a problem for GWS.

Wow, you're a moron.

 

[Cmarsh]

Regardless of crowd numbers, the bigger issue is that it was very clear that there were more Brisbane fans there than GWS fans. Surely this is a problem for GWS.

oh no there wasn't. Lol.

 

[Giant YoYo]

oh no there wasn't. Lol.

Not even close.

 

[Sammoll]

Heartbreaking loss tonight for GWS but the future is bright. They're gonna be just fine. Keep fighting the good fight Giants fans.

 

[Giant YoYo]

Heartbreaking loss tonight for GWS but the future is bright. They're gonna be just fine. Keep fighting the good fight Giants fans.

Thanks mate

You seem to be one of our biggest supporters here on BF.

Just wanted to say, I really appreciate it.

Please don't ever stop being such a good sport.

 

[Cmarsh]

Heartbreaking loss tonight for GWS but the future is bright. They're gonna be just fine. Keep fighting the good fight Giants fans.

Yeah depends. That's the kind of loss that can really set back a playing group mentally. The capitulations in the last two games aren't necessarily going to inspire members to rush to sign up again either.

 

[Sammoll]

Yeah depends. That's the kind of loss that can really set back a playing group mentally. The capitulations in the last two games aren't necessarily going to inspire members to rush to sign up again either.

I guess time will tell. It will hurt a lot in the short term but by next March I think you'll all be raring to go again. It's part of the beauty of this stupid sport

 

[Giant YoYo]

It's part of the beauty of this stupid sport

I didn't grow up with it. Completely new to it.

I'm not even two years into this sport and it stings.

I have a lot of catching up to do.