IMO spoons should cancel flags, spoon is the opposite of winning a flag, in any football league you would have been relegated by now. Look at richmonds numbers, fallen off the cliff. It does have a knock on effect. Our attendances been up, helped us wipe off a large chunk of our debt too. Being competitive does come with benefits.Don't think either matters too much. If losing a gf or avoiding a spoon is your stated aim then that's great.
I agree with you that winning a premiership will have knock on effects of improved attendance and membership, but again, I don't think looking at those metrics in isolation means much.