2025 Club Membership Updates

[lanson15]

Pretty poor growth from GWS and pies

To be fair how much higher can the Pies go

 

[kranger]

Now to reveal the important data from the membership numbers, how much revenue did each club raise from those members.

 

[GenericUsername202]

Brisbane has shot up almost 50k in 6 years. Their figures are easily the most impressive in the league considering we're capped at a much smaller stadium. I feel like if we sustain our form all the way to the new stadium, we would undoubtedly be considered one of the top clubs in the league. We have the biggest advantage over any other club, being that we have the whole city to ourselves. Eagles have to share with Fremantle, and port the same with the crows. The same goes for every other club in the league. The only team i feel could rival us in the future (besides the big 4 vic clubs and the eagles and crows) is Sydney. However, they need a new stadium, because we're on pace to surpass them in the next year or so.

 

[Hawkk]

Some clubs like WC, Brisbane, adelaide there is nowhere for their crowds to go as they have maxed out the capacity

Whilst that’s somewhat true, that’s the not the case for the Victorian clubs, GWS, the Gold Coast and even Sydney and Port.

If you look at the the last four years, the membership numbers are so far disconnected from actual bums in seats.

From 2023 to 2025 (first year of Gather Round)

2023 home and away and home game attendance vs 2025

Hawthorn 33.7% increase in crowds (28.2% increase at home)

North Melb 16% increase in crowds (25.8% increase at home)

Gold Coast 12.4% increase in crowds (14.17% increase at home)

Adelaide 12.22% increase in crowds (5.2% increase at home)

Brisbane 8.45% increase in crowds (5.78% increase at home)

GWS Giants 8.39% increase in crowds (8.49% increase at home)

Geelong 4.4% increase in crowds (3.8% increase at home)

Fremantle 3.2% increase in crowds (1.8% increase at home)

W Bulldogs 3% increase in crowds (20% increase at home)

Collingwood 0.005% drop in crowds (5% increase at home)

Sydney 0.6% drop in crowds (4.4% increase at home)

West Coast 1% drop in crowds (7% increase at home)

Carlton 2.82% drop in crowds (2.9% increase at home)

St Kilda 3.83% drop in crowds (1.7% drop at home)

Melbourne 6.8% drop in crowds (8.5% drop at home)

Port Adelaide 6.96% drop in crowds (3.8% drop at home)

Essendon 6.96% drop in crowds (19.6% drop at home)

Richmond 15.9% drop in crowds (18% drop at home)

Compared to membership change 2023 vs 2025

Brisbane increase by 37.38%

Gold Coast increase by 28.88%

Adelaide increase by 18.2%

Sydney increase by 17.32%

W Bulldogs increase by 16.48%

Geelong increase by 14.44%

GWS increase by 14.13%

Port Adelaide increase by 13.4%

North Melbourne increase by 10.17%

St Kilda increase by 8.74%

Hawthorn increase by 8.06%

Fremantle increase by 6.66%

Carlton increase by 5.73%

Collingwood increase by 5.65%

West Coast increase by 3.68%

Essendon dropped by 0.9%

Richmond dropped by 9.88%

Melbourne dropped by 17.3%

If you go back to 2022 it’s even more pronounced. Brisbane is up 74%, Sydney is 38.22%, Port is up 28.82% and Geelong is up 28.37%.

And that’s despite all those clubs drawing roughly the same number of bums on seats to games over a four year period (give or take 10-15%). The growth is great but the value of what a club membership once meant is lost.

 

[Hawkk]

Brisbane has shot up almost 50k in 6 years. Their figures are easily the most impressive in the league considering we're capped at a much smaller stadium. I feel like if we sustain our form all the way to the new stadium, we would undoubtedly be considered one of the top clubs in the league. We have the biggest advantage over any other club, being that we have the whole city to ourselves. Eagles have to share with Fremantle, and port the same with the crows. The same goes for every other club in the league. The only team i feel could rival us in the future (besides the big 4 vic clubs and the eagles and crows) is Sydney. However, they need a new stadium, because we're on pace to surpass them in the next year or so.

Steady. Brisbane’s numbers are impressive but the number itself is completely disconnected from support.

Despite Brisbane’s 75,000 members the Lions still had tickets at the gate for 5 or 6 Gabba games this year - and that’s despite the 35,000 capacity.

At a time when its membership shot up 74 per cent its Gabba attendances have climbed from 25,818 (in 2022) to 30,598 (this year) and were 27,455 and 29,045 in 2023 and 2024. That is roughly in line (and actually a little behind) what they were drawing in 2006 to 2010 (28,630, 28,848, 29,172, 29,933) when they had a third of members.

So what has changed between 2010 and 2025 (?). Lots. We now have AFLW, one, two and three game memberships, non match day access, internet membership and more. This isn’t a knock on Brisbane, all clubs do it, but that’s the reason why lots of clubs (especially those in expansion markets) have all spiked 30 to 70 per cent over the last 4 years.

It’s a pretty clever strategy but you can’t say a member in 2015 is the same as 2025 they are vastly different things. These days it’s cheaper to become a one game member then it is to buy a ticket to a single match.

 

[budge27]

Year	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023 Final	2024 FInal	2025 Final	Club
Adelaide								25,087	38,673	40,100	40,611	41,645	42,283	41,395	41,985	42,120	42,896	42,014	46,620	47,097	45,642	43,256	50,138	50,976	48,720	46,472	45,515	46,520	46,005	46,405	54,249	52,920	54,307	56,865	64,379	64,437	54,891	60,232	63,009	68,536	75,477	81,067	Adelaide
Brisbane				3,449	7,607	7,716	5,630	5,696	5,401	5,750	6,158	6,158	10,267	16,769	16,108	16,931	20,295	18,330	22,288	24,365	30,221	28,913	26,459	21,976	22,737	24,873	26,779	22,338	20,762	24,130	24,012	25,408	23,286	21,362	24,867	28,023	29,277	40,289	43,139	54,676	63,268	75,115	Brisbane
Carlton	12,774	13,317	14,905	9,227	11,936	10,060	10,978	12,736	12,354	14,445	18,308	18,308	23,276	24,984	25,402	25,719	27,571	27,725	26,385	33,525	32,095	33,534	28,756	35,431	39,360	42,408	40,480	43,971	45,440	50,564	47,485	47,305	50,130	50,326	56,005	64,269	67,035	81,302	88,776	95,277	106,345	100,743	Carlton
Collingwood	16,313	16,857	13,971	9,500	11,985	13,620	14,808	18,469	18,921	21,882	20,843	20,843	20,752	22,761	27,099	32,358	28,932	31,455	32,549	40,455	41,128	38,612	38,038	38,587	42,498	45,972	48,408	71,796	72,688	78,427	79,347	75,037	74,643	75,879	75,507	85,226	76,862	82,527	100,384	106,470	110,628	112,491	Collingwood
Essendon	10,231	11,376	12,607	8,129	8,432	7,958	11,046	11,593	10,034	11,546	19,720	19,720	24,324	28,063	27,099	29,858	34,278	36,227	35,219	31,970	32,998	32,734	32,511	32,759	41,947	40,412	40,589	50,275	47,708	56,173	60,626	60,818	57,494	67,768	79,319	84,237	66,686	81,662	86,001	86,274	83,664	85,568	Essendon
Fremantle												18,456	19,622	19,949	22,186	24,896	24,925	23,898	23,775	25,368	32,780	34,178	35,666	43,343	43,366	39,206	39,854	43,975	42,918	43,880	48,777	51,433	51,889	51,254	55,639	51,431	51,577	50,342	56,105	62,064	62,237	66,179	Fremantle
Geelong	7,709	7,718	6,985	6,981	9,667	7,760	15,087	11,356	13,535	15,500	14,312	15,922	17,346	18,858	19,971	21,032	25,595	25,420	23,756	24,017	25,021	30,821	32,290	30,169	36,850	37,160	40,326	39,426	40,205	42,884	43,803	44,312	50,571	54,854	63,818	65,063	60,066	70,293	71,943	82,155	90,798	92,379	Geelong
Gold Coast																												11,270	11,204	12,502	13,478	13,643	12,854	11,665	12,108	13,649	16,236	19,460	21,422	23,359	26,157	30,107	Gold Coast
G.Western Sydney																													10,241	12,681	13,040	13,480	15,312	20,944	25,243	30,109	30,841	30,185	32,614	33,036	36,629	37,705	G.Western Sydney
Hawthorn	8,051	7,713	7,335	6,516	7,099	8,520	9,882	10,006	12,368	11,388	11,245	12,728	12,484	27,005	27,649	32,120	26,879	30,140	33,319	31,500	31,255	29,261	28,003	31,064	41,436	52,496	53,978	59,142	60,841	63,353	68,650	72,924	75,351	75,663	80,302	81,211	76,343	77,079	81,494	80,698	83,823	87,204	Hawthorn
Melbourne	6,297	5,801	4,511	3,122	10,078	8,184	10,111	10,153	8,681	10,097	10,648	9,544	12,964	15,336	17,870	19,713	18,227	21,409	20,152	20,555	20,647	24,805	24,698	27,777	29,619	31,506	33,358	36,937	35,459	33,177	35,911	35,953	39,146	42,233	44,275	52,421	40,571	53,188	66,484	70,785	65,479	58,563	Melbourne
North Melbourne	6,374	6,520	5,318	3,430	4,415	3,411	5,201	6,683	6,083	6,851	10,296	14,027	14,438	19,368	20,196	22,080	22,156	22,940	20,831	21,403	23,420	24,154	24,624	22,366	32,600	28,340	26,953	29,914	33,423	34,607	39,060	41,012	45,014	40,343	40,789	42,419	38,667	46,357	49,250	51,084	50,628	56,283	North Melbourne
Port Adelaide														35,809	38,305	37,166	34,925	33,296	36,229	35,425	36,340	36,834	35,648	34,073	34,185	30,605	29,092	36,624	35,543	39,838	48,968	54,057	53,743	52,129	54,386	51,951	46,820	56,532	58,643	64,041	66,015	72,656	Port Adelaide
Richmond	6,822	7,137	5,772	2,825	3,154	3,607	4,974	8,377	8,158	9,918	8,229	14,647	20,308	24,975	27,092	29,047	26,869	26,501	27,251	25,101	27,133	28,029	29,406	30,044	30,820	36,981	32,960	47,655	53,027	60,321	66,122	70,809	72,278	72,669	100,726	103,358	100,420	105,084	100,792	101,349	98,489	92,531	Richmond
St Kilda	4,930	5,708	4,321	3,924	5,799	8,360	11,361	9,785	11,650	12,956	12,009	8,870	14,375	16,610	23,204	20,793	17,855	22,248	17,696	23,626	30,534	32,043	32,327	30,394	30,063	31,906	39,021	39,276	35,440	32,707	30,739	32,746	38,009	42,052	46,301	43,038	48,588	55,802	60,172	60,239	60,467	65,509	St Kilda
Sydney	2,750	2,777	4,927	3,594	2,516	2,631	2,624	2,907	3,020	3,097	3,327	6,088	9,525	22,109	31,089	31,175	30,177	28,022	27,755	21,270	25,010	24,955	30,382	28,764	26,721	26,269	28,671	34,679	29,873	36,358	40,126	48,836	56,523	58,838	60,934	61,912	48,322	50,144	55,934	65,332	73,757	76,674	Sydney
West Coast				2,800	8,480	9,223	10,450	17,636	29,302	25,779	24,265	26,821	26,663	33,286	37,496	36,212	38,868	38,649	34,880	36,234	40,792	42,406	44,138	45,949	44,863	43,927	44,160	54,040	57,377	58,501	58,529	60,221	65,188	65,064	80,290	90,445	100,776	106,422	102,897	103,275	103,498	107,079	West Coast
Western Bulldogs	6,491	8,030	8,433	3,452	5,351	5,168	10,983	9,598	9,311	11,478	9,339	12,212	10,650	15,054	20,064	20,491	18,056	19,085	20,838	21,260	19,295	21,974	26,042	28,725	28,306	28,215	32,077	32,026	30,007	30,209	31,538	35,222	39,459	47,653	43,246	44,373	38,876	46,541	50,941	56,302	62,328	65,584	Western Bulldogs
Total Members	88,742	92,954	89,085	66,949	96,519	96,218	123,135	160,082	187,491	200,787	209,310	245,989	279,277	382,331	422,815	441,711	438,504	447,359	449,543	463,171	494,311	506,509	519,126	532,397	574,091	586,748	602,221	699,864	708,161	756,717	804,460	836,136	875,197	907,561	1,008,134	1,057,572	992,854	1,113,441	1,190,000	1,264,952	1,319,687	1,363,437	Club Total
Womens Club																																				9,406	20,849	25,782	48,712	66,362	68,743	79,309

I’ve often wondered what happened in 1987 to the membership tallies…. It was the year that the Bears and Eagles came into the comp but all the big 4 clubs went backwards about an average of 4,000 members each which was massive at the time. And Richmond had the smallest Victorian membership…??? something never looked right to me.

 

[Hawkk]

I’ve often wondered what happened in 1987 to the membership tallies…. It was the year that the Bears and Eagles came into the comp but all the big 4 clubs went backwards about an average of 4,000 members each which was massive at the time. And Richmond had the smallest Victorian membership…??? something never looked right to me.

1987 was the year that Channel 7 had the dispute with the VFL and didn’t broadcast the football. It was also in and around a major recession. The Dogs were the worst hit, they went from 8,500 members in 1986 to less than 3,500 in 1987.

That said club membership really wasn’t a thing until the mid to late 90s. Neither was home games, most supporters just went to every game home or away which is why Richmond and Melbourne used to get massive crowds to home and away games in the 60s and 70s.

Although it’s interesting to note that Footscray was pretty big club from 1925 right till the mid ‘80s. Their membership and crowds really dropped off from that mid 80s period (thanks to gentrification) which set the wheels in motion for the 1989 merger. Which is probably why we think of them as a smaller club now. If Bigfooty was around in 1945, 1955 or 1965 they’d probably be in the same conversation as Collingwood, Carlton, Richmond and Geelong for following.

I’ve aways thought of the Dogs as being the Port Adelaide of the early VFL. They were easily the strongest 1925 expansion club and had a membership and crowds to compete with the foundation clubs from the get go.

 

[Wosh]

Through thick and thin

 

[The_Wookie]

 

[The_Wookie]

26.11.25

Members make it a momentous season!

The AFL is delighted to announce a new AFLW club membership record for the second consecutive year, thanks to the support and passion of footy fans across the country.

The new record tally of 84,644 AFLW club members has resulted in a nearly 11 per cent growth from last season and eclipses the previous total of 76,356 set in 2024.

Across the league, twelve clubs set new membership records including this week’s NAB AFLW Grand Finalists the North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos and the Brisbane Lions, as well as Fremantle, Geelong Cats, GWS GIANTS, Gold Coast SUNS, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Richmond, St Kilda and West Coast.

Under new captain Ruby Schleicher and boasting 2024 number one draft pick Ash Centra, Collingwood also saw a membership increase year-on-year while nine clubs saw more than 10 per cent growth this season in their membership tallies.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon thanked footy fans for their support in the milestone 10th season.

“On behalf of the AFL I would like to thank our fans who have supported their team this year and become an AFLW member – you have set this new record and it’s another remarkable milestone to celebrate in the 10th season of the competition,” Dillon said.

“Our clubs do an incredible job instilling fans with pride and passion for their jumper – as well as drive a one club two team culture – and that’s reflected in 12 clubs breaking their own AFLW membership record.

“The NAB AFLW Competition this year has gone from strength to strength. From the open, free flowing, attacking footy on the field, to record high scores and disposals as well as huge crowds at Henson Park and across our Indigenous and Pride Rounds, there has been growth in many areas throughout the league.

“We’re looking forward to Saturday and seeing either North become the first AFLW team to win back-to-back flags or Brisbane becoming the first club to win the AFL and AFLW premierships in the same year.”

The AFLW club membership record follows the announcement in September that the AFL broke its all-time club membership record with 1,363,437 fans a member of an AFL club – the equivalent of one in 20 Australians.