2018 Memberships Released

[mediumsizered]

No, I think the lost generation is exactly that now- wearing different coloured beanies. The improvement will come from generation next, wearing the Cripps, Charlie, Wieters, Samo and Paddy numbers on the back. A few Darcy, Bri and Taylas as well. I think our first goal should be 60k, not 70- there is a lot to like about the current list, I haven't said that for many a year.

This is it precisely.

We may have 460k followers, as per the Roy Morgan poll, but my experience from living in Vic, NSW & Qld is that we have a significant number of followers who identify with the club, but have never attended a game, never purchased a membership & don't watch our games religiously on TV (I can point to approximately a dozen relatives of mine that fit at least one of these categories).

Many of these followers became followers due to our success of the '70s & '80s which saw us having plenty of TV exposure both in Victoria & other states on The Winners or the Channel 7 Football Replay. Everybody loves a winner & if you have to attach yourself to a footy team for social purposes, a winning team, with lots of well known names is a no brainer (there was a stack of Hawks followers around after the 70s & 80s & yet they went with a whisker of a merger with Melbourne in the mid 90s). These people were never destined to become members though & as our star has faded, some no longer identify as Carlton followers, preferring to only identify with other sports they may follow.

On the basis of the above, I believe the 50k members we have been achieving over the last few years is a good indication of how many 'rusted on' supporters we actually have. There may be some who are holding out until we start stringing together some success, but I suspect this may only account for a few thousand supporters. Realistically we now have to look to the younger generation if we are to significantly grow our numbers. These may well be kids whose parents support other AFL clubs, but who are captivated by some of the Carlton names you have mentioned (possibly throw Pickett & Garlett into the mix as well) & jump on the bandwagon when the club starts playing finals on a regular basis. We have unfortunately missed out on a significant chunk of the previous generation due to our lack of success & lack of players who have been household names or names that excite (Fev, Judd & not much else).

 

[Jabba73]

20 years without much success is effectively 2 generations of supporters. Kids need to be the focus.

 

[THE_GUN]

This is it precisely.

We may have 460k followers, as per the Roy Morgan poll, but my experience from living in Vic, NSW & Qld is that we have a significant number of followers who identify with the club, but have never attended a game, never purchased a membership & don't watch our games religiously on TV (I can point to approximately a dozen relatives of mine that fit at least one of these categories).

Many of these followers became followers due to our success of the '70s & '80s which saw us having plenty of TV exposure both in Victoria & other states on The Winners or the Channel 7 Football Replay. Everybody loves a winner & if you have to attach yourself to a footy team for social purposes, a winning team, with lots of well known names is a no brainer (there was a stack of Hawks followers around after the 70s & 80s & yet they went with a whisker of a merger with Melbourne in the mid 90s). These people were never destined to become members though & as our star has faded, some no longer identify as Carlton followers, preferring to only identify with other sports they may follow.

On the basis of the above, I believe the 50k members we have been achieving over the last few years is a good indication of how many 'rusted on' supporters we actually have. There may be some who are holding out until we start stringing together some success, but I suspect this may only account for a few thousand supporters. Realistically we now have to look to the younger generation if we are to significantly grow our numbers. These may well be kids whose parents support other AFL clubs, but who are captivated by some of the Carlton names you have mentioned (possibly throw Pickett & Garlett into the mix as well) & jump on the bandwagon when the club starts playing finals on a regular basis. We have unfortunately missed out on a significant chunk of the previous generation due to our lack of success & lack of players who have been household names or names that excite (Fev, Judd & not much else).

Not that im saying that this is the case but being of ethnic backround i know atleast 20-30 Carlton supporters that support them because as you said they came to australia when Carlton were strong and have stuck to carlton as 'Supporters' But never go to games or buy memberships etc but when you ask them they say Carlton.

Migrants from 60's , 70's will never be passionate supporters and it is just the way it is as they come from a soccer backround and attend soccer game, Now their kids are similar as they follow carlton but are more round ball people its the odd 1 like me which are probably 20-30% that have fully become tragic's and enjoy afl more

Richmond,Collingwood,Essendon,Hawthorn appear to have more anglo backround supporters that dont really follow soccer that much

 

[mediumsizered]

Not that im saying that this is the case but being of ethnic backround i know atleast 20-30 Carlton supporters that support them because as you said they came to australia when Carlton were strong and have stuck to carlton as 'Supporters' But never go to games or buy memberships etc but when you ask them they say Carlton.

Migrants from 60's , 70's will never be passionate supporters and it is just the way it is as they come from a soccer backround and attend soccer game, Now their kids are similar as they follow carlton but are more round ball people its the odd 1 like me which are probably 20-30% that have fully become tragic's and enjoy afl more

Richmond,Collingwood,Essendon,Hawthorn appear to have more anglo backround supporters that dont really follow soccer that much

When I was living in Sydney in 2011/12, I was walking around the southern suburb where I was living at the time & as I walked towards one of the houses, I noticed an elderly European gentleman doing some gardening in his front yard. As I got closer I could see he was wearing a Carlton FC member's cap with the Toshiba logo on it (a search through my collection of member's caps reveals that this was a 2004 cap). My immediate thought at the time was that even though this gentleman may identify as a Carlton supporter, he was extremely unlikely to be attending Carlton games or to be purchasing a membership at that time or in the future. There was also of course a chance that the cap may have been given to him by a Carlton supporting relative or perhaps was purchased at a 2nd hand shop & he had no idea what the cap represented. Either way, it sort of reiterates that identifying as a Carlton supporter does not mean a person is a potential club member, rather just someone who knows of the club.

 

[BLUEALLTHRU]

When I was living in Sydney in 2011/12, I was walking around the southern suburb where I was living at the time & as I walked towards one of the houses, I noticed an elderly European gentleman doing some gardening in his front yard. As I got closer I could see he was wearing a Carlton FC member's cap with the Toshiba logo on it (a search through my collection of member's caps reveals that this was a 2004 cap). My immediate thought at the time was that even though this gentleman may identify as a Carlton supporter, he was extremely unlikely to be attending Carlton games or to be purchasing a membership at that time or in the future. There was also of course a chance that the cap may have been given to him by a Carlton supporting relative or perhaps was purchased at a 2nd hand shop & he had no idea what the cap represented. Either way, it sort of reiterates that identifying as a Carlton supporter does not mean a person is a potential club member, rather just someone who knows of the club.

True but these people are littered through all clubs. We have lost a complete generation of support
The sanctions were too much, especially with the slap on the hand * maggots were handed.
We got severely ****ed over!

 

[Iamcarlton]

The club pretty much washed its hands of the past with the appointment of Bolton + Silvagni who have brought the CFC into the thinking of modern day football . Too much looking back will only bring you down its gone cant change it can learn its taking time but now need to focus on the now and the future . Which i feel the club is doing there however seems to be a few all to readily happy to dwell on the past . Pity they arent getting on board the new CFC...

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

Disparaging non-members is not going to make buying a membership seem more palatable to them. I see insults flung at non-members on here all the time, with zero consideration given as to why that might be the case. Understanding why a large proportion of our supporter base isn't dipping in, and then rectifying those issues where we can, is essential. Targeting the next generation of supporters will also help grow our membership base--as a teenager in the 2000s I knew maybe 2 other Carlton supporters my age.

 

[Big_Luch]

Just phoned the club to change my direct debit details. Took all of 2 and a half minutes.

Talk about service!

 

[katmanblue]

Interesting and well thought out post.

I have no idea how many members we miss out on but I think I may know why we do miss on some; We're just not an appealing club
That may not be palatable and sure, we have our fair share of fiercely committed and passionate supporters, but not like a lot of other clubs have.

In my case, I dropped my interest in football from about 2001-2008. Dropped off to the point I didn't even follow results.
Didn't even care to announce myself as Carlton supporter, as I didn't particularly feel any connection with the club at all.
While other clubs were being smart and inclusive, we were basically being arrogant and dumb and that's not a platform to sell memberships from.

It doesn't seem to me that we're going to get much over that 50K ceiling again this year and whilst other clubs built their membership base, without necessarily being high achievers, it seems that all we have is a' "When we're a power again, they will come" It takes a lot more than that, unfortunately

The culture of our club is still behind the 8 ball. We have a lot of work to do and not necessarily a lot of time.

I remember not wanting to admit i was a Carlton supporter when talking to people. I got sick of the laughter in their eyes or the pity.

Always loved the club but its hard being called a basketcase by opposition supporters especially when deep down you know they are right.

We can only dine out on hope for so long.

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[BLUEALLTHRU]

I remember not wanting to admit i was a Carlton supporter when talking to people. I got sick of the laughter in their eyes or the pity.

Always loved the club but its hard being called a basketcase by opposition supporters especially when deep down you know they are right.

We can only dine out on hope for so long.

On [device_name] using BigFooty.com mobile app

As Bolts says we have to endure Droughts this long makes you appreciate what it is to support teams like Doggies and Saints etc. Mark my words I will savour the next flag like the last timtam in the packet. Go you bloody Baggers

 

[katmanblue]

As Bolts says we have to endure Droughts this long makes you appreciate what it is to support teams like Doggies and Saints etc. Mark my words I will savour the next flag like the last timtam in the packet. Go you bloody Baggers

I agree, but there were some dark days.

I can see the light, but i am not sure if its the end of the tunnel or a freight train.

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[THE_GUN]

I agree, but there were some dark days.

I can see the light, but i am not sure if its the end of the tunnel or a freight train.

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Good point but i think Carlton are really not that far away and will only go up quickly after 2018 with another year of top draft picks plus a couplke of free agents to top up the midfield where i believe your team is the weakest link at the moment.

2019 and beyond your fowards and Backs should be reasonably good and your ruck division is not too bad (i dont really rate ruckman that highly and would prefer a reasonable ruckman with 2 players that have the ability to give him a chop out)

Midfield is where i see Carlton lacking and thats not to say you dont have the quality talent but more they are young and inexperienced to carry the Game, I would love to see Sloan be chased by Carlton and Kelly the following year. These 2 players should elevate Carlton into top 8 and Give the backs and fowards support and supply.

But more importantly for the membership cause having 2 players like these 2 combined with the under current of young skilled players will also drive the membership level upto a level where you are at around 65,000 in 2019 55,000 is a possibility in 2018 imo

 

[Dadda Dave]

Disparaging non-members is not going to make buying a membership seem more palatable to them. I see insults flung at non-members on here all the time, with zero consideration given as to why that might be the case. Understanding why a large proportion of our supporter base isn't dipping in, and then rectifying those issues where we can, is essential. Targeting the next generation of supporters will also help grow our membership base--as a teenager in the 2000s I knew maybe 2 other Carlton supporters my age.

Good post ! I know a friend that loves the the Blues no end . He is caring for his wife that has an illness .He is bringing up his teenage daughters paying school fees and all other household expenses on a ******* pension that is no fault of his own and just can't afford a membership . I'm sure there are other die hard supporters in a similar boat .

 

[mediumsizered]

I remember not wanting to admit i was a Carlton supporter when talking to people. I got sick of the laughter in their eyes or the pity.

Always loved the club but its hard being called a basketcase by opposition supporters especially when deep down you know they are right.

We can only dine out on hope for so long.

On [device_name] using BigFooty.com mobile app

I've never been concerned about what opposition supporters think when I admit I am a Carlton supporter. I always concede that yes we have been ordinary for a long time, but that I have been fortunate enough to have enjoyed the good times from late 60s through to the mid 90s & I have no doubt there will be more good times in the future.

 

[Richo83]

Sorry to intrude guys but from an outsider's perspective I do think Niall is onto something, although his idea of a blue brigade monkier is awful. I don't think you can just blame poor form; Carlton's conversion rate of supporter to member is one of the poorest of all Victorian clubs, and clubs like Melbourne, who have been terrible for a while have a good conversion rate.

I suspect Carlton fans have been turned off by the administration, but Niall is also ignoring another factor: Etihad. I live nearby Etihad and often go to neutral games, including some Carlton games. Anecdotally, I can say that many blues fans I've talked to don't like Etihad and would prefer to play more matches at the MCG as they see themselves as one of the bigger Victorian clubs (which they are) and like the MCG more (which is fair). The AFL wants some big drawing clubs at Etihad, so the blues are stuck, alienating fans. Etihad also limits the amount of memberships you can sell, much like how Adelaide and Perth sides' membership numbers are limited by the size of their stadiums.

Better form (which will come), an administration which engages better (already coming) and more MCG games (who knows?) will help. I've thought for ages that Carlton have one of the least engaged supporter base membership wise, and the Roy Morgan poll claims this. But I'd take this as a positive, and an opportunity, that Carlton could be so much bigger in terms of its membership base. A membership base of 60-70k or more is very possible.

What I fundamentally disagree with is blaming fans for not being members. Currently we have more AFL coverage than ever before and the appeal of sitting in a nice warm room stocked with beer and snacks watching your team on TV without having to deal with parking or public transport is appealing. I've been a member of the tigers since 1999 but I never criticise others for not being members. It's the job of the club to engage with the fans, not vice versa. I know people compare football to religion but it is also an entertainment product and if people feel like memberships aren't worth their money they wont buy. I don't think Carlton inevitably has less members than any of the other members of the big four, it's just circumstances that have lead to that.

I hope that Carlton's fanbase does get more engaged as the AFL is at its strongest when all 18 clubs are engaging with its fans effectively, meaning all clubs are healthy, plus big crowds are a big aspect of the AFL experience.

 

[TD2010]

A Richmond member being rational, even handed, generous, logical....it's nauseating what a premiership can do

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[ferrisb]

20 years without much success is effectively 2 generations of supporters. Kids need to be the focus.

As we recently learnt, 2 generations of supporters in Jabba's household means like 43 kids.....

 

[Manchego Cheese]

What I’ve always found amusing is the Club - and by this I mean the administration and a significant portion of our supporter base - attitude about membership being a kind of be-all end-all. It’s all about the number on the tally board and a sort of arms race with other clubs.

Being a member is quite a personal thing. It means you’re passionate about the club to the point you want that title - and what that title means these days is poles apart from what it meant 25 years ago. To go to the footy these days, in the era of 50k and 100k seat stadia, you don’t really need to be a member. It means your passionate about the club to the point you attend matches.

But there are some fans for whom that is not a priority. They support the club, but from slightly further away. Whereas a member, particularly those with a reserved seat or greater financial contribution might be more hands on, the supporter is at arms reach.

My point is, what’s the difference, apart from data capture, between Fan A signing up for a $300 membership or buying $300 worth of merchandise; or buying a raffle ticket; or attending the Best and Fairest. Carlton, for too long, has put its hands out to the same people, expecting/hoping that the same fan (the member) buys everything. In the past I’ve been a Gold Reserved Seat Member (home and away reserved seating), at a quite significant outlay. Yet they always call to sell me more stuff. When is enough enough?

Make the Best and Fairest slightly more affordable so to sell more tickets. Produce better merchandise so to move more product. Recognise that not all supporters want the same thing. Accept that the title of ‘member’ is so vague that to prescribe it is done more in hope than anything else.

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

What I’ve always found amusing is the Club - and by this I mean the administration and a significant portion of our supporter base - attitude about membership being a kind of be-all end-all. It’s all about the number on the tally board and a sort of arms race with other clubs.

Being a member is quite a personal thing. It means you’re passionate about the club to the point you want that title - and what that title means these days is poles apart from what it meant 25 years ago. To go to the footy these days, in the era of 50k and 100k seat stadia, you don’t really need to be a member. It means your passionate about the club to the point you attend matches.

But there are some fans for whom that is not a priority. They support the club, but from slightly further away. Whereas a member, particularly those with a reserved seat or greater financial contribution might be more hands on, the supporter is at arms reach.

My point is, what’s the difference, apart from data capture, between Fan A signing up for a $300 membership or buying $300 worth of merchandise; or buying a raffle ticket; or attending the Best and Fairest. Carlton, for too long, has put its hands out to the same people, expecting/hoping that the same fan (the member) buys everything. In the past I’ve been a Gold Reserved Seat Member (home and away reserved seating), at a quite significant outlay. Yet they always call to sell me more stuff. When is enough enough?

Make the Best and Fairest slightly more affordable so to sell more tickets. Produce better merchandise so to move more product. Recognise that not all supporters want the same thing. Accept that the title of ‘member’ is so vague that to prescribe it is done more in hope than anything else.

I agree. One initiative that I thought they did well was having two different ticket price points for the 150th celebration. $300 for dinner and $75 to spectate. I wouldn't have gone if I had to pay $300, but was more than happy to pay $75 for what ended up being a good night out without breaking the bank.

I've been to the B&F once, found it incredibly boring, and won't spend $200 on a ticket again. But I could be tempted to go for $75, even if it meant no dinner!

 

[MightyMighties]

On the subject of memberships, received this email from the club today.

Wondering what the catch is...

 

[Jimmae]

View attachment 465415 On the subject of memberships, received this email from the club today.

Wondering what the catch is...

You have to pay for it next year?

 

[MightyMighties]

You have to pay for it next year?

Maybe, but if we somehow make the GF, and we’re guaranteed tickets, that’d be money well spent!

Don’t know how we managed an upgrade but pretty stoked. Kids are rapt!

 

[Jimmae]

Maybe, but if we somehow make the GF, and we’re guaranteed tickets, that’d be money well spent!

Don’t know how we managed an upgrade but pretty stoked. Kids are rapt!

Guaranteed right to purchase. I'm guessing you'd still end up in a ballot for which price bracket you'll get allocated?

 

[MightyMighties]

Guaranteed right to purchase. I'm guessing you'd still end up in a ballot for which price bracket you'll get allocated?

Reckon that’d be the case, but a nice problem to have.

 

[KohPhi]

I'v re-joined the Social Club after being out for the better part of 20 years. I wonder if any of the 'old heads' from the 90's are still around!!