2014 Membership

[Judge]

I bought my own burger last night Judge

And all the free tomato sauce portions that you can ever want.

Why did I wait so long?

@ Chasing the Dream, one benefit of being a Gabba member not yet spoken about is that you can enter/walk through the plebeian sections of the Gabba dispensing free sauce and wisdom to the unwashed at will whilst they are (literally) turned away at our gate!

Alternatively, of course, you can fill your pockets with free sauce and sell them to the masses at a discounted price.....

 

[Davemonkey]

@ Chasing the Dream, one benefit of being a Gabba member not yet spoken about is that you can enter/walk through the plebeian sections of the Gabba dispensing free sauce and wisdom to the unwashed at will whilst they are (literally) turned away at our gate!

Alternatively, of course, you can fill your pockets with free sauce and sell them to the masses at a discounted price.....

So about $1 a packet?

 

[Alan Smithee]

@ Chasing the Dream, one benefit of being a Gabba member not yet spoken about is that you can enter/walk through the plebeian sections of the Gabba dispensing free sauce and wisdom to the unwashed at will whilst they are (literally) turned away at our gate!

Alternatively, of course, you can fill your pockets with free sauce and sell them to the masses at a discounted price.....

As a fellow Gabba member over the last 18 odd years that is undoubtedly the best reason I have ever heard for having membership. You should let the gabba membership manager (who I reckon looks like Doc Brown from Back to the Future a bit) about this wonderful benefit, he'll include it in his next weekly email to members to try and recruit more members.

 

[John]

Don't forget the dancing girls.

 

[Judge]

Don't forget the dancing girls.

Sorry mate, I keep forgetting about those.....

 

[whatboutbob]

North Melbourne are giving folks free entry to games for the rest of the year if they sign up as new members for 2015 now. Good initiative I thought could apply to the Lions.

 

[Skoob]

North Melbourne are giving folks free entry to games for the rest of the year if they sign up as new members for 2015 now. Good initiative I thought could apply to the Lions.

Free entry to the Gabba if they sign up with North?
Your worst idea to date.

 

[Lion for Life]

I would've thought the return of the traditional jumper would likely see a few jump back on. I have three friends who cancelled their memberships until it was back, and I think there'll probably be others in the same boat.

Yeah, i know of at least 5 who have refused to buy in until it changed

 

[Last of the Roys]

The membership tally is now 23,930, up about 60 since in the last two weeks. I guess we still must be selling 3 game memberships.

Which raises the point what is our real membership tally?

I know this has been raised before on the Lions board and elsewhere, but the increase in 3 game membership over the last few years since they were introduced (when did the Lions actually first sell 3 game memberships?) has more than likely helped to hide an even more severe decline in our membership numbers over the last 4 years.

To take an educated guess I think we have around 3,500 of our total would be Vic members (I don't know the exact figure but I have a reasonable anecdotal understanding of our Vic membership movements); 12,500 Brisbane members with seats (I think I remember seeing the 12k figure mentioned last year linked to the board issues, the figure could in fact be lower this year); which leaves around 7,000 other members.

So if we assume there are 7,000 other members - some of those will be Brisbane General Admission members; some will be Brisbane 3 game members; and some will be from the remaining categories (like babies, pets, armchair, etc.). While I think the Brisbane GA category is still relevant in analysing our real membership figure, the other two are not (although they are still worthwhile for the Club to sell - they are not what is traditionally seen as part of clubs core membership base). I would take a guess that around 2,000 of our members are Brisbane GA (given the space that is there for GA at the Gabba), probably around 1,000-2,000 non-ticketed (babies, etc.), which would leave around 4,000 3-game members.

If my educated guesses are accurate, then our real membership tally would be more like 18,000 (3,500 Vic + 12,500 Brisbane full members + 2,000 Brisbane GA) - which shows just how much the decline since 2004 has really occurred. Back then they only reported real figures - which for the Club peaked at around 31,000 in 2004 (there was also a recent mini-peak of 29,000 in 2010 after reaching the finals in 2009).

Anyway, in the last 2-3 years all clubs have now reported all memberships as being part of their total - this has allowed the AFL to paint a picture of huge increases in membership in most Clubs. However for the Lions at least, it has hidden the fact that our declining supporter base is far worse than anything publicly acknowledged.

This would be a good issue to raise with the Board at this year's AGM - i.e. how much of our membership total is made up of 3-game and non-ticketed members? And hasn't the introduction of including those numbers in the overall tally masked a much more dramatic decline in our supporter base in the last 4 years that all Lions supporters should be concerned about?

 

[Last of the Roys]

Looking at some of the figures published in the Membership thread on the AFL Industry board, around 7.9% of our members were reported as non-ticketed members last year. If that remains unchanged it would mean close to 2,000 non-ticketed Lions members this year as well (which is consistent with what I said above).

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/2014-membership-tallies.1031250/page-37#post-33441789

 

[MacMum]

I buy a supporter membership (approx. $55).We don't go to the footy anymore, but I feel it is something towards the club. Am also not in a position to pay more than that for a more solid membership when we don't go. Wish I was.

Possibly there are quite a few who have taken that type of membership....I imagine that a few of the ex Fitzroy people would be getting on in age and may be in the same position as us.

 

[Schache It Off]

I buy a supporter membership (approx. $55).We don't go to the footy anymore, but I feel it is something towards the club. Am also not in a position to pay more than that for a more solid membership when we don't go. Wish I was.

Possibly there are quite a few who have taken that type of membership....I imagine that a few of the ex Fitzroy people would be getting on in age and may be in the same position as us.

Anything helps!

 

[Mazza44]

Not sure if this is quite relevant to the thread but I'm a little disappointed with the Lions shop and need to have a little vent. 3 weeks have rolled past since ordering the J. Brown Lion King jumper and I've heard nothing. Sent an email last night and they responded that they are waiting for stock and it will take 2-3 weeks. Delays are understandable but a lack of communication (something new for this club ) as well as a lack of courtesy when replying (a small 'we apologise for the delay would've been nice) has put me off. Considering all money goes to the club you'd think their service would be a little bit better.. the AFL store and Rebel Sport will be stocking a lot of the things I'll be purchasing next season with the return of our traditional jumper and are five minutes from my home so I may have to consider my choice of spending more by paying postage to give to the club I love.

/endrant

 

[Hysteria25]

Not sure if this is quite relevant to the thread but I'm a little disappointed with the Lions shop and need to have a little vent. 3 weeks have rolled past since ordering the J. Brown Lion King jumper and I've heard nothing. Sent an email last night and they responded that they are waiting for stock and it will take 2-3 weeks. Delays are understandable but a lack of communication (something new for this club ) as well as a lack of courtesy when replying (a small 'we apologise for the delay would've been nice) has put me off. Considering all money goes to the club you'd think their service would be a little bit better.. the AFL store and Rebel Sport will be stocking a lot of the things I'll be purchasing next season with the return of our traditional jumper and are five minutes from my home so I may have to consider my choice of spending more by paying postage to give to the club I love.

/endrant

Oh no... I ordered mine when they were first announced and suffered the same terrible communication as you. To top it all off, the jumper I received (as well as my heritage jumper) were of DEPLORABLE quality. Absolutely gutted with how poor quality they were, my Brisbane Lions knock-off jumpers from Bali are of better quality. All the writing was heavily pixelated and the jumper felt like it would tear in a single tackle! Ended up calling the store and they gave me a full refund, it was almost like they were aware of how poor they were. Hopefully the later ones are a bit better.

 

[Full Wingspan]

Not sure if this is quite relevant to the thread but I'm a little disappointed with the Lions shop and need to have a little vent. 3 weeks have rolled past since ordering the J. Brown Lion King jumper and I've heard nothing. Sent an email last night and they responded that they are waiting for stock and it will take 2-3 weeks. Delays are understandable but a lack of communication (something new for this club ) as well as a lack of courtesy when replying (a small 'we apologise for the delay would've been nice) has put me off. Considering all money goes to the club you'd think their service would be a little bit better.. the AFL store and Rebel Sport will be stocking a lot of the things I'll be purchasing next season with the return of our traditional jumper and are five minutes from my home so I may have to consider my choice of spending more by paying postage to give to the club I love.

/endrant

Suffered the same fate - had to ring the Lions shop after ordering it 2.5 weeks prior, to be told it should take up to 3. 3 weeks later, still haven't heard or received anything.

If its s**t quality, I'm going to make sure I get a refund.

 

[James North]

That sucks guys.

 

[Hysteria25]

Suffered the same fate - had to ring the Lions shop after ordering it 2.5 weeks prior, to be told it should take up to 3. 3 weeks later, still haven't heard or received anything.

If its s**t quality, I'm going to make sure I get a refund.

Luckily for me, I didn't have to jump through any hoops when returning my jumpers. Definitely make sure you get a refund if you are unhappy with it, for the price we paid we deserve to receive a high quality product.

Funnily enough, a few weeks ago I actually bought a match issued Nick Robertson guernsey, and it is absolutely fantastic. By far the highest quality out of the many jumpers I have owned over the years. They obviously cut costs on the gear that is not going to be worn by the players and seen on TV.

 

[maroon and blue]

The membership tally is now 23,930, up about 60 since in the last two weeks. I guess we still must be selling 3 game memberships.

Which raises the point what is our real membership tally?

I know this has been raised before on the Lions board and elsewhere, but the increase in 3 game membership over the last few years since they were introduced (when did the Lions actually first sell 3 game memberships?) has more than likely helped to hide an even more severe decline in our membership numbers over the last 4 years.

To take an educated guess I think we have around 3,500 of our total would be Vic members (I don't know the exact figure but I have a reasonable anecdotal understanding of our Vic membership movements); 12,500 Brisbane members with seats (I think I remember seeing the 12k figure mentioned last year linked to the board issues, the figure could in fact be lower this year); which leaves around 7,000 other members.

So if we assume there are 7,000 other members - some of those will be Brisbane General Admission members; some will be Brisbane 3 game members; and some will be from the remaining categories (like babies, pets, armchair, etc.). While I think the Brisbane GA category is still relevant in analysing our real membership figure, the other two are not (although they are still worthwhile for the Club to sell - they are not what is traditionally seen as part of clubs core membership base). I would take a guess that around 2,000 of our members are Brisbane GA (given the space that is there for GA at the Gabba), probably around 1,000-2,000 non-ticketed (babies, etc.), which would leave around 4,000 3-game members.

If my educated guesses are accurate, then our real membership tally would be more like 18,000 (3,500 Vic + 12,500 Brisbane full members + 2,000 Brisbane GA) - which shows just how much the decline since 2004 has really occurred. Back then they only reported real figures - which for the Club peaked at around 31,000 in 2004 (there was also a recent mini-peak of 29,000 in 2010 after reaching the finals in 2009).

Anyway, in the last 2-3 years all clubs have now reported all memberships as being part of their total - this has allowed the AFL to paint a picture of huge increases in membership in most Clubs. However for the Lions at least, it has hidden the fact that our declining supporter base is far worse than anything publicly acknowledged.

This would be a good issue to raise with the Board at this year's AGM - i.e. how much of our membership total is made up of 3-game and non-ticketed members? And hasn't the introduction of including those numbers in the overall tally masked a much more dramatic decline in our supporter base in the last 4 years that all Lions supporters should be concerned about?

Would be interesting to know the number of Qld members who were or had a connection through family with Fitzroy.

 

[patfullfankezz]

Would be interesting to know the number of Qld members who were or had a connection through family with Fitzroy.

*raises hand*

Either my dad or grandfather was a member at one stage, I can't remember which.

 

[Mazza44]

Oh no... I ordered mine when they were first announced and suffered the same terrible communication as you. To top it all off, the jumper I received (as well as my heritage jumper) were of DEPLORABLE quality. Absolutely gutted with how poor quality they were, my Brisbane Lions knock-off jumpers from Bali are of better quality. All the writing was heavily pixelated and the jumper felt like it would tear in a single tackle! Ended up calling the store and they gave me a full refund, it was almost like they were aware of how poor they were. Hopefully the later ones are a bit better.

Damn that doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence. Almost feel like cancelling it now. Hopefully Lions_Insider stumbles upon this thread and passes the feedback onto the club.

 

[maroon and blue]

The membership conundrum for Greg Swann is does he try to re build the membership based on popular Qld winning support akin the the 3 peat only to see it evaporate after a few years of game losses. Or does he cut the losses and try different methods, increasing the Vic membership and grafting on Qld supporters of other clubs who have a footballing heritage and more likely to remain members for the long run. How this would be done is up for conjecture.

 

[BuntonRules]

The membership conundrum for Greg Swann is does he try to re build the membership based on popular Qld winning support akin the the 3 peat only to see it evaporate after a few years of game losses. Or does he cut the losses and try different methods, increasing the Vic membership and grafting on Qld supporters of other clubs who have a footballing heritage and more likely to remain members for the long run. How this would be done is up for conjecture.

One thing about Swann is that he would be very aware of the latent support in Melbourne, and the value of it.

 

[MacMum]

He said on SEN this morning, that he wants to find the corporates and ex members and find out where they have gone and why. That's a good basic start.

My opinion is that a lot have gone to the SUNS.

 

[Hollow Knight]

He said on SEN this morning, that he wants to find the corporates and ex members and find out where they have gone and why. That's a good basic start.

My opinion is that a lot have gone to the SUNS.

The corporates declined well before the Suns came on the scene. With members I think you get some loyalty points to a degree where they will stick fat for a little while but the corporates generally just ebb and flow between the other Brisbane footy codes clubs, whichever is the sexiest team at the time to schmooze the clients with. Think there has also been a general lingering malaise during and post GFC when companies began to cut back on unnecessary spending.

 

[Elixuh]

I know one business that had a corporate box at the Lions but got rid of it because they simply couldn't get anyone to go. Its tough.

I wonder how much having Hunt in the Suns piqued the interest of league fans who otherwise wouldn't have taken any interest? I.e. does it equate to creating new fans in league territory?