SJ
Premium Platinum
http://www.mcc.org.au/Membership/Waiting List/Membership numbers.aspx
I also found this interesting - that member attendance (note: not including guests) is on average about 20% of the reserve capacity.
As someone who is on the waiting list (still a long way off) but enjoys attending as a guest, I'm happy with this move.
However, with more than 103,000 members, another 233,000 waiting to join and the waiting list growing by more than 10,000 each year, the club has for some time been concerned that, unless action is taken, a person who joins the waiting list today will wait more than 40 years before receiving a membership offer.
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What the club proposes
To address the aforementioned challenges, the club is considering electing additional Restricted members over the next 5-10 years, with no more than 10,000 in any one year.
I also found this interesting - that member attendance (note: not including guests) is on average about 20% of the reserve capacity.
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Filling Reserve has long been a challenge
Despite having one of the largest memberships in the country, one of the lesser known facts about MCC membership is the high proportion of visitors admitted to the Reserve, even on major match days. In fact, the Members Reserve is very rarely at capacity on days other than the AFL Grand Final.
Previous increases in member numbers have had negligible impact on attendance. Indeed, the last time the club introduced a large number of new members, during the Northern Stand development period, we successfully managed a 30,000 increase over six years without any pressure on existing amenities. It is part of the ongoing evolution and management of the club.
“We have the scope to accommodate a greater number of members than we do now,” said MCC general manager membership and heritage, Scott Butler. “Years of data show that the MCC Reserve is rarely at capacity, or indeed even close.
“Even some of the marquee events - such as the Boxing Day Test, an AFL Preliminary Final or the Anzac Day match - consistently require us to sell a large number of visitor tickets in order to fill our seating area.”
The club understands that bringing guests into the Reserve is a very popular amenity of membership. While an increase in members may see the number of visitor tickets reduced or not available for big events, we are confident that it can still achieve a balance of maximising attendance and allowing members to host guests in their club.
As someone who is on the waiting list (still a long way off) but enjoys attending as a guest, I'm happy with this move.