Which club has the larger fanbase - Essendon or Carlton?

[iameviljez]

I think your spot on prior to the late 90's it was always Carlton even my great Essendon mate Dave10 agreed. But after that you could argue Essendon passed Collingwood and Carlton and it was a big deal back then.

Yeah, it really was - but that made sense because the big teams were still winning flags, competing in finals most years, etc etc, so they needed another point of differentiation.

It seems a bit moot at the moment, when the best clubs of the last 25 years have been small to mid-sized clubs in Hawthorn, Brisbane and Geelong.

 

[dave10]

We saw what happened when Richmond tasted success again despite many people saying that Richmond had lost a generation of supporters due to poor performance from 1983-2016 that yielded just two finals wins. Essendon are going to see a far bigger wave of momentum and support when they taste success again.

That’s my view. Not just the casual Bomber supporters but wait until all the neutrals and footy goers join in.

How does a club that hasn’t won a final for 21 years and a supplements saga have 85,500 members? If you want to know what Essendon’s base / floor membership level is, that’s it. And there’s few clubs that can boast that level. Eagles are the obvious only one imo. I’m not convinced if Collingwood went through Essendon’s last 21 years it would have 85,000 members. It might have but it’s not certain.

Until the Blues on field renaissance in 2023, it was largely trailing the Bombers on most metrics for 20 years. It still trails the Bombers on the metrics that are not influenced by on field results.

There’s Blues and Bombers are pretty close. Certainly the next big clubs behind the Pies in Victoria.

 

[justlookingaround]

Roy Morgan polling has consistently had Essendon above Carlton over the years, Carlton also falls further down the ladder in down years while Essendon is consistently in the top 5 despite not achieving for a long period of time.
This and looking at crowd numbers on Footywire it is pretty evident that Carlton have a massive supporter base but turnout is more contingent on ladder position whereas Essendon has enjoyed loyal support for a number of years.

That being said, anecdotally I really think Bombers supporters are now right on the edge of what they will turn up for. I think we saw that this year with the crowds at some of our Marvel home games in the low 20 thousands, almost unprecedentedly low for Essendon. I also suspect our fanbase skews older and that if we go another generation or two without success in 70 years time we will be a smaller Victorian club.

 

[Cactus_]

Just merge these clubs already so we won’t have such a tough time deciding who to hate the most

(Apologies to Hawthorne)

 

[LeBronco]

Roy Morgan polling has consistently had Essendon above Carlton over the years, Carlton also falls further down the ladder in down years while Essendon is consistently in the top 5 despite not achieving for a long period of time.
This and looking at crowd numbers on Footywire it is pretty evident that Carlton have a massive supporter base but turnout is more contingent on ladder position whereas Essendon has enjoyed loyal support for a number of years.

That being said, anecdotally I really think Bombers supporters are now right on the edge of what they will turn up for. I think we saw that this year with the crowds at some of our Marvel home games in the low 20 thousands, almost unprecedentedly low for Essendon. I also suspect our fanbase skews older and that if we go another generation or two without success in 70 years time we will be a smaller Victorian club.

Melbourne were once a massive club in terms of support and decades of irrelevance saw them become one of the small clubs. Having said that they got crowds of over 90,000 to finals at the MCG in 2018 against Hawthorn and Geelong and I often wonder whether or not we were robbed of huge street parties in 2021 due to covid lockdowns and Melbourne breaking their flag drought in Perth.

You mention Essendon crowds being more consistent than Carlton crowds but I have no doubt it's due to Carlton plumbing far lower depths than Essendon with 5 spoons to 1 spoon. If the roles were reversed I would suggest Carlton crowds would be more consistent.

 

[What else we can do]

Melbourne were once a massive club in terms of support and decades of irrelevance saw them become one of the small clubs. Having said that they got crowds of over 90,000 to finals at the MCG in 2018 against Hawthorn and Geelong and I often wonder whether or not we were robbed of huge street parties in 2021 due to covid lockdowns and Melbourne breaking their flag drought in Perth.

You mention Essendon crowds being more consistent than Carlton crowds but I have no doubt it's due to Carlton plumbing far lower depths than Essendon with 5 spoons to 1 spoon. If the roles were reversed I would suggest Carlton crowds would be more consistent.

2023 was no picnic either for the Blues 4 wins 8 losses and 1 draw prior to that run after Round 15. We made finals for the first time in 10 years and in 2013 we weren't even meant to be there.

 

[boncer34]

Essendon: shit since 2005
Carlton: shit since 2002
Collingwood: disappointingly, consistently excellent. We can't have everything, I guess.
Richmond: Utter dogshit since 1983, then unbelievably good for five years, then, refreshingly, back to being utter dogshit.

Thats your opinion.

My stats are accurate.

 

[What else we can do]

Compare the metrics
mind you most have been around since 2002 where Carlton has 5 wooden spoons to Essendon's one and Essendon have made finals 10 times to Carlton's 5.

Google search: Carlton since 2004
Facebook: Essendon since 2008
Youtube search Carlton since 2008
Instagram: Carlton since 2021
Website popularity: Carlton
X: Essendon since 2009
Youtube followers: Essendon
Tiktok: Essendon
Current Crowds: Carlton
All time Crowds: Carlton since 1921
Roy Morgan: Essendon since 2000
Supercoach: Essendon since 2001
Fantasy: Carlton since 2001
MCC: Essendon
AFL members: Carlton since 1992
Club Membership: Carlton
Club Membership all time: Carlton
Live Streaming: Carlton since 2016
Reddit: Carlton
Clicks Data consumption: Carlton
BigFooty: looks to be Carlton?

Depends how you look at it but Carlton and Essendon are pretty close.

 

[Fadge]

LOLOL.

This thread reminds me of when you used to be able to bet on who would run second to Black Caviar or Winx...

 

[iameviljez]

Thats your opinion.

My stats are accurate.

Both are true

 

[What else we can do]

LOLOL.

This thread reminds me of when you used to be able to bet on who would run second to Black Caviar or Winx...

Don't know what the **** you talking about? I bet one Eastern European man like me would take on 2 of you LOL LOL

 

[Bostonian]

Victoria Essendon, around the rest of the country we have more fans.

 

[Red_man2008]

Carlton related page number 1

 

[Shane Heard]

Erm, my best mate barracks for Essendon, and put it this way, I don't really want to swap with her thanks.

That’s ok pet.

Us Essendon supporters completely understand how others view our club as a vast dormant empire of the past that could erupt any moment with an onslaught of immense firepower and savage vengeance.

It’s comin…

 

[Shane Heard]

Victoria Essendon, around the rest of the country we have more fans.

It’s the other way around ..mate.

 

[dave10]

It’s the other way around ..mate.

That’s my read too.

Whilst it’s easy to dismiss SuperCoach and Morgan, they’re really strong ‘National’ surveys of support given they aren’t influenced by on field fortunes at all. They’re much more relevant than the other ‘traditional’ metrics.

Adding strength to their validity is they’ve broadly maintained the same rankings over more than a decade. The SuperCoach survey for instance is done over ~100,000 people so it’s extremely accurate as a national survey of club support. It’s been done many times the last decade plus and the results are nearly identically the same. That’s why this survey is so representative of national support. This is why (imo) Carlton and Essendon are usually well clear of Richmond, they have significantly higher support outside Victoria. And this is why Pies / Bombers are comfortably the top 2 clubs in terms of national support..

Membership, attendances, socials stats are all influenced markedly by on field results.

 

[The_Reaper]

I have always felt that Essendon or North is the biggest interstate team in WA.
Probably Essendon piping North.

 

[Macca180]

If/When Essendon become good again it's going to be interesting to see.

 

[LeBronco]

If/When Essendon become good again it's going to be interesting to see.

Would love to see North Melbourne and Essendon being good again at the same time. I remember the last time both were top 4 and the rivalry was huge. Should have played each other in the 1999 grand final but that's another topic.

 

[StillAtLarge]

I have always felt that Essendon or North is the biggest interstate team in WA.
Probably Essendon piping North.

Really? I assumed it was Carlton by a mile. They always get big numbers to WA games

 

[LeBronco]

Really? I assumed it was Carlton by a mile. They always get big numbers to WA games

Never been to WA but I've always assumed Collingwood have the most supporters there out of all clubs barring Fremantle and West Coast. Reason being they're big all over Australia due to being a good side more often than not.

 

[Worm4]

Never been to WA but I've always assumed Collingwood have the most supporters there out of all clubs barring Fremantle and West Coast. Reason being they're big all over Australia due to being a good side more often than not.

Carlton have a massive supporter base in perth because of the fitzpatrick, bosustow, hunter, connections added to the fact that the winners on ABC was shown each saturday with Carlton generally winning those games back in the 80's. At one point they were the 3rd most popular club to follow, probably not as high now ( 4th or 5th )

 

[Corn Cobbers]

Carlton have a massive supporter base in perth because of the fitzpatrick, bosustow, hunter, connections added to the fact that the winners on ABC was shown each saturday with Carlton generally winning those games back in the 80's. At one point they were the 3rd most popular club to follow, probably not as high now ( 4th or 5th )

Agreed Wormy, I lived over there for a decade, they were freaking everywhere

Nasty types too

 

[5minutes_of_Dew]

People seem to have forgotten how big Essendon can be. Even with a missing generation of supporters, one sniff of a flag and their crowds will be massive again

So we'll get an accurate gauge of how big Essendon can be in about 2035 when they threaten to win a final again...

 

[Worm4]

Agreed Wormy, I lived over there for a decade, they were freaking everywhere

Nasty types too

We had some great functions over in Perth pre game with players attending. The Brass Monkey in Northbridge was generally full for Carlton functions. I lived there in the early 90's and they were the biggest supported club outside of WA.