Perth Stadium (Optus Stadium)

[Papa G]

I worry about this. The Eagles currently have a long waiting list for seated memberships. I'm pretty sure we're sitting on about 60K members of all types at the moment. The dockers are probably pretty close behind. It looks like there is still going to be a waiting list for seats. Make it 70 000 at least while it's being built, rather than modifying it in a few years' time.

Port and Crows both have 60,000 members. AO capacity is 53,500. In a 60,000 seat stadium you could sell 50,000 11 game memberships, which would be significantly higher than anybody in the league currently. West Coast might be able to do it, not sure Freo could.

 

[AsterixTheGaul]

Both WA Clubs need to work together and reinforce Australian Rules Football in the heartlands because the AFL are busy expanding the north they are neglecting their heartlands.

Soccer, Union and soon to be League are taking a big chunk of possible members. Why? Apart from Kiwi, South African and English recent arrivals, so few people get to easily go to the football each week.

A couple of things need to happen.
1. Make sure we keep some for families. You can't take your kids to the football, your supporting days are limited. That is your future audience. The inability for Eagles fans to take their kids to the games meant a whole bunch of Eagles became Dockers because you could get in.

2. Look at affordable packages of 3 or 6 game packs. It grows your attending membership base and allows more members to see games.

I lived in London and watching the football (i.e. soccer) has become extremely expensive as clubs prefer to sell the tickets at the lowest cost to serve meaning to an individual. Whilst splitting the ticket costs more to serve the customer base (your supporters), it does build a stronger membership base.

 

[FootyFan96]

1. Make sure we keep some for families. You can't take your kids to the football, your supporting days are limited. That is your future audience. The inability for Eagles fans to take their kids to the games meant a whole bunch of Eagles became Dockers because you could get in.

That's the idea of having a large amount of general tickets available so it is relatively easy to buy a ticket to the games you want.

2. Look at affordable packages of 3 or 6 game packs. It grows your attending membership base and allows more members to see games.

Great Idea, However these clubs are businesses so the only way they would do this is if they were struggling to sell full season membership which they probably won't be, but you never know.

Soccer, Union and soon to be League are taking a big chunk of possible members. Why? Apart from Kiwi, South African and English recent arrivals, so few people get to easily go to the football each week.

Lastly on this point, these sports are like AFL in NSW and QLD, their memberships and support go up when they are winning and going well but they come down at twice the speed when they are not. However support for the AFL clubs due to a more loyal fanbase(in WA) will mostly rise, but every so often only drops a little bit when teams aren't performing. So the AFL clubs probably aren't that motivated to take the steps you propose.

 

[Kwality]

Port and Crows both have 60,000 members. AO capacity is 53,500. In a 60,000 seat stadium you could sell 50,000 11 game memberships, which would be significantly higher than anybody in the league currently. West Coast might be able to do it, not sure Freo could.

I understand the Eagles plan to offer 30,000 limited seating (think 3 game ) membership options - keen to roll the Pies to 100k members with the money in the bank to match.
Cant see 10k general admin seats being a sell out very often.

 

[Papa G]

The way the Eagles should probably structure it to get the most fans would be something like:
40,000 11 game members
5,000 Corporates
5,000 General Admission.
20,000 - 25,000 3 game members.

Add interstate and all the other weird and wonderful memberships and the Eagles could be pushing 80,000 members. Capping the 11 game membership at say 40,000 will let you guys have a lot members and more importantly give the chance for far more supporters to see footy live and be far more engaged with the club.

 

[Quinz]

The way the Eagles should probably structure it to get the most fans would be something like:
40,000 11 game members
5,000 Corporates
5,000 General Admission.
20,000 - 25,000 3 game members.

Add interstate and all the other weird and wonderful memberships and the Eagles could be pushing 80,000 members. Capping the 11 game membership at say 40,000 will let you guys have a lot members and more importantly give the chance for far more supporters to see footy live and be far more engaged with the club.

That's the ideal system really. And the lower membership options will make sure the crowd will be full more often, rather than people who know they can only get to 5 games take the 11 game membership, because it's the only one offered.

 

[AsterixTheGaul]

Great Idea, However these clubs are businesses so the only way they would do this is if they were struggling to sell full season membership which they probably won't be, but you never know.

Depends in business whether you are short term opportunistic driven or long term strategically driven.

Kids go to the game - get interested, get merchandise, become fans for life, with you when they are older, etc. They resist the purple lure!

When the Eagles launched their marketing plan "The West is Ours" - this is the sort of thinking I expect to follow. My concern is that Nesbitt may have been there too long and under his watch, Fremantle have overtaken the Eagles in most areas (bar Brownlow Medals and Flags). The West Was Ours is more relevant and I hope it is time to take it back.

 

[Noctorniquet]

The way the Eagles should probably structure it to get the most fans would be something like:
40,000 11 game members
5,000 Corporates
5,000 General Admission.
20,000 - 25,000 3 game members.

Add interstate and all the other weird and wonderful memberships and the Eagles could be pushing 80,000 members. Capping the 11 game membership at say 40,000 will let you guys have a lot members and more importantly give the chance for far more supporters to see footy live and be far more engaged with the club.

Probably the mose sensible proposition put forward, makes a lot of sense and should see the ground close to full most weeks.

 

[FootyFan96]

20,000 - 25,000 3 game members.

This is the part that will cause a lot of trouble because there is a fairly large waiting list especially for the Eagles that have their name down for full season memberships and they are expecting to be able to get one, rightfully, So if the club turns around and pretty much says "So, we don't have any more full season memberships available but we can give you a 3 game membership" trust me there would be upheaval as some of these people have been in line for up to 6 years but if they essentially have to share their seat with other people and not get the games they want they have the right not to be happy.

Kids go to the game - get interested, get merchandise, become fans for life, with you when they are older, etc. They resist the purple lure!

Won't make much difference because 90% of the time the kids go for who the parents go for and fremantle will be doing exactly the same thing as the Eagles.

The only time a club would make a 3 game membership is if they have large excess capacity and want to get a bit more money from the people that can't afford a full membership, however they won't be. If the eagles keep their existing structure it means all their seats are paid for whether or not people go or not meaning more money. You just have to remember these two clubs will always be very strong so they don't care about this airy fairy bringing kids to games stuff(thats what school visits are for) as long as people pay for their seat they are happy.

 

[AsterixTheGaul]

Ah. The age of short term thinking is back.

I have 2 close mates who have donned the purple purely because they wanted to tske their kids to see some matches.

Would you think 100,000 members would be something special?

 

[FootyFan96]

Would you think 100,000 members would be something special?

It would be wonderful, However the club would never cut into their allocation for full season members. Put yourself in the shoes of someone on the waiting list who has been there for up a large number of years and promised a full season ticket at the new stadium then when the time comes around they say they are not offering full season tickets but you can have a 3 game membership. You would not be happy. So instead of offering limited memberships people will just be pushed to buy the 10,000 non member tickets(which will be forced upon them). So on game day there will be 50,000 full season tickets and 10,000 non member tickets (Really simplistic, didn't take into account corporate and so on). PS. I've already got a full season membership just incase you thought I am whinging that I won't get a ticket.

 

[budge27]

I bought a Dockers 3 game membership this season so I could take my 6 year old son along to AFL games. Both of us don't like the Dockers but it was the only way to really get along to watch any games, especially after the way they changed the GA ticketing system this year and didn't really tell anyone...

I think the 3 game memberships are a great idea, you get a few games without the commitment of the whole season. The number of no shows this season by West Coast members is quite huge this year.... Obviously they are paying a fortune for a membership and occasionally using it ...similar to an MCC membership.

 

[FootyFan96]

The number of no shows this season by West Coast members is quite huge this year

The average attendance between Freo and WCE are not that much, the only real bad one for WCE was against Gold Coast, which was 27,000, but think about it if a 3 game membership was available nobody would buy a membership for those games. Remember also Freo has had their games against teams that usually have big crowds. So my point is the situation for FFC mustn't be much better on that front.

especially after the way they changed the GA ticketing system this year and didn't really tell anyone...

They did mention it on their social media and websites quite a bit, plus check the week before a game you want to go to usually they release a tonne.

 

[AsterixTheGaul]

The average attendance between Freo and WCE are not that much, the only real bad one for WCE was against Gold Coast, which was 27,000, but think about it if a 3 game membership was available nobody would buy a membership for those games. Remember also Freo has had their games against teams that usually have big crowds. So my point is the situation for FFC mustn't be much better on that front.

They did mention it on their social media and websites quite a bit, plus check the week before a game you want to go to usually they release a tonne.

Happy to say we beg to disagree. Lived in Melbourne and was an AFL member so know what they do there. Perth is like usual about a decade behind.

 

[FootyFan96]

Happy to say we beg to disagree. Lived in Melbourne and was an AFL member so know what they do there. Perth is like usual about a decade behind.

My point was the WCE members have been rocking up to games and the attendance is no different to what Freo have, Looking back the reason the GC game was so poor in attendance was because it was absolutely pissing down that day. The reason the Eagles have never had limited memberships is because they have never had the excess capacity to do so. Also I've been to a few Collingwood-Eagles games at the MCG and every time I go everywhere is close to capacity except the AFL members and MCC members.

 

[AsterixTheGaul]

My point was the WCE members have been rocking up to games and the attendance is no different to what Freo have, Looking back the reason the GC game was so poor in attendance was because it was absolutely pissing down that day. The reason the Eagles have never had limited memberships is because they have never had the excess capacity to do so. Also I've been to a few Collingwood-Eagles games at the MCG and every time I go everywhere is close to capacity except the AFL members and MCC members.

You have been raising a number of issues during this interchange and so it has been less than clear what you stand. Every time I have raised an opportunity, you seem to have have a wet blanket answer that shuts it down. I am nearing the point of thinking this was futile but will try to raise my point again.

For me, the big issue at heart is that Subiaco Oval has been sold out each year so the personnel at WCE (and probably Freo) have been very short sighted as they are seeing little point growing the club since the 40,000 seater has been sold out. Bzzzzz. Wrong answer.

If you treat the Eagles as a brand, then you would see some major changes: start growing the supporter base, lock in support for generations to come, increase revenues (without having to make the football jumpers out of reach from the public) and increase the sustainability of all that goes on.

The previous decade saw me travel and be living at times overseas. It enabled me to experience first hand a successful club in the EPL (in London) as well as visit and discover what they are doing in the NHL, MLB and NBA (USA). I have seen what clubs are doing to grow their brand. The Eagles need to broaden their horizons as filling Subiaco feels like it is the vision and hence many of their approaches are pitched at that level.

Let me give an example on how narrow minded the Eagles are with how they go about selling club jumpers.

On the Eagles site and in the Roberts Rd shop, the current jumper is for sale at $110. On the AFL site this jumper is for sale at $99. Don't get that differential. Collingwood sell their jumpers to member at $99.

The Eagles Indigenous jumper is for sale at $120 while Collingwood equivalent is for sale at $99. Gone are the days when printing in black and white is the reason for the price differential.

The cost to produce these jumpers is under $45.

The EPL jumpers used to be the most expensive and they have been reducing their price as they found out that by making them more affordable, Still paying twice the VAT and I can buy them cheaper that the AFL shirts.

 

[FootyFan96]

You have been raising a number of issues during this interchange and so it has been less than clear what you stand. Every time I have raised an opportunity, you seem to have have a wet blanket answer that shuts it down. I am nearing the point of thinking this was futile but will try to raise my point again.

For me, the big issue at heart is that Subiaco Oval has been sold out each year so the personnel at WCE (and probably Freo) have been very short sighted as they are seeing little point growing the club since the 40,000 seater has been sold out. Bzzzzz. Wrong answer.

If you treat the Eagles as a brand, then you would see some major changes: start growing the supporter base, lock in support for generations to come, increase revenues (without having to make the football jumpers out of reach from the public) and increase the sustainability of all that goes on.

The previous decade saw me travel and be living at times overseas. It enabled me to experience first hand a successful club in the EPL (in London) as well as visit and discover what they are doing in the NHL, MLB and NBA (USA). I have seen what clubs are doing to grow their brand. The Eagles need to broaden their horizons as filling Subiaco feels like it is the vision and hence many of their approaches are pitched at that level.

Let me give an example on how narrow minded the Eagles are with how they go about selling club jumpers.

On the Eagles site and in the Roberts Rd shop, the current jumper is for sale at $110. On the AFL site this jumper is for sale at $99. Don't get that differential. Collingwood sell their jumpers to member at $99.

The Eagles Indigenous jumper is for sale at $120 while Collingwood equivalent is for sale at $99. Gone are the days when printing in black and white is the reason for the price differential.

The cost to produce these jumpers is under $45.

The EPL jumpers used to be the most expensive and they have been reducing their price as they found out that by making them more affordable, Still paying twice the VAT and I can buy them cheaper that the AFL shirts.

I agree but my view is that 3 game memberships are only worth while if there are at least 10,000 seats allocated to it. So with 10,000 being forced to be non member seats and 45,000 full season memberships needed to make a dent in the waiting list that only leaves 5,000 tickets which would be able to be used by 15,000-20,000 people but if you have 10,000 it means that 30,000-40,000 which might be able to push over 100,000 members in total. So my opinion is on game day the 10,000 non member tickets reduced to 5,000 so:
45,000 season member
10,000 3 game members
5,000 non members
This would essentially wipe out the waiting list with the "In the wings members"(don't know what it is for freo) due to them still being able to see games.OR if unable to reduce non member tickets:
45,000 season members
15,000 non members
With the members on the waiting list being offered discounted and maybe 1 free game in the non members area. This should work as they will technically not be ticketed members but they will be given a voucher for a game.(adjustment will have to be made for corporate and so on but you get the gist)

Also I agree with the pricing of the Guernseys its too much but I am also a South Sydney member and it is so much worse with the nrl teams.

 

[budge27]

They did mention it on their social media and websites quite a bit, plus check the week before a game you want to go to usually they release a tonne.

That's not going to help someone who's a non Freo or Eagles supporter who only goes to one game a year when their team is in town...I only ever check the ticket company's webiste and all the GA tickets were sold out at the start of the season.

Have they really been releasing "a tonne of tickets" before each game....?? all the resale tickets were 4 times the face value last time I checked.

 

[FootyFan96]

Have they really been releasing "a tonne of tickets" before each game....?? all the resale tickets were 4 times the face value last time I checked.

I know you might not like it but just follow the eagles twitter they put out stuff like this where because the club sell them they are regular prices.

 

[Noctorniquet]

Design of the footbridge revealed, looks great.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wes...tbridge-revealed/story-fnhocxo3-1227385905502

 

[bradrowe#32]

Lot of good articles in the paper today. People whinge about the costs, but as a tax-payer I'm happy to go in for at as finally Perth gets a great stadium, befitting of this state. I just hope as a neutral supporter, I can go and watch one of WA's teams play every week.

 

[Experimental]

Lot of good articles in the paper today. People whinge about the costs, but as a tax-payer I'm happy to go in for at as finally Perth gets a great stadium, befitting of this state. I just hope as a neutral supporter, I can go and watch one of WA's teams play every week.

I've never had any intention of heading over to Perth due to the state of Subi, but as soon as the new stadium is built, my girlfriend and I will be heading over once a year for a Suns game. While our money might not be worth much to anybody individually, when you combine the increase in attendance, plus more people heading to Perth via plane, needing a hotel, spending money in pubs and restaurants - it all adds up.

Well worth the investment imo.

Very excited to head west when it opens!

 

[FootyFan96]

I've never had any intention of heading over to Perth due to the state of Subi, but as soon as the new stadium is built, my girlfriend and I will be heading over once a year for a Suns game. While our money might not be worth much to anybody individually, when you combine the increase in attendance, plus more people heading to Perth via plane, needing a hotel, spending money in pubs and restaurants - it all adds up.

Well worth the investment imo.

Very excited to head west when it opens!

It's great, Also it is worth while knowing that there are a few hotels being built in the city meaning hotel prices will come down meaning it becomes more affordable. But there are still people whinging that it should be spent more on stuff like health (which is ridiculous when you take into account most hospitals in Perth have either been upgraded or completely replaced recently).It's exciting for us locals to see the state investing in things that will grow the state economically.

 

[BartBart]

The way the Eagles should probably structure it to get the most fans would be something like:
40,000 11 game members
5,000 Corporates
5,000 General Admission.
20,000 - 25,000 3 game members.

Add interstate and all the other weird and wonderful memberships and the Eagles could be pushing 80,000 members. Capping the 11 game membership at say 40,000 will let you guys have a lot members and more importantly give the chance for far more supporters to see footy live and be far more engaged with the club.

FYI - I think Corporate boxes, etc. is 8k.
So... if tickets for general public on game by game basis is 5-10k and opposition supporters tickets are allowed for a decent chunk is already not available for memberships.

I don't know what those numbers are at Subi Oval.

 

[Alfonz]

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/28385658/stadium-memberships-likely/

So if there are 10k for general public, and say 10k for corporates/stadium membership ... leaves only 40k for the clubs to sell memberships.

Reckon the 10k general public allocation is way too high and there won't be many games that sell out.

In general (for all games/stadiums), the AFL should get out of the stone ages and implement a properly regulated market for people to resell their tickets. The current option of contacting the club to resell tickets within 4 hours of bounce, for some kind of future credit ... this is not user friendly and can be easily improved.

Sites like StubHub, NBA/NFL ticket exchange, flash seats (Houston Rockets) ... these are fantastic services for both buyers/sellers. Clubs should be allowed to sell as many season memberships as possible. And if a game (or even the season) is sold out, the general public can look to the "AFL ticket exchange". Put a face value cap on the price if worried about promoting a pro-scalping attitude.