Resource 2025 Membership - The year of change - 72,656 as of September 10th AFL Audited

[Port2Power]

Membership Update - 9th May 2025



Increase of 602 members in 4 days (05/05/25)

Up by 8,543 members from same time last year (01/05/25 - 57,233)

 

[PowerLil]

Membership Update - 9th May 2025

View attachment 2309647

Increase of 602 members in 4 days (05/05/25)

Up by 8,543 members from same time last year (01/05/25 - 57,233)

An increase after a 90 point shellacking? Ok.

 

[PAFC66]

This will be the last time we'll see memberships this high for half a decade at least

 

[all seeing eye]

Assume this includes aflw members which would still be in a growth phase.

 

[bomberclifford]

And crows supporters buying a 3 game pass to access the showdown.

 

[Turksta84]

Well i finally did mine this week due to being overseas for a couple months so thats 2 memberships

 

[Capital Power]

This will be the last time we'll see memberships this high for half a decade at least

Nah, they'll just keep redefining what a "member" is. It's all part of the AFL's willy measuring contest v NRL.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Nah, they'll just keep redefining what a "member" is. It's all part of the AFL's willy measuring contest v NRL.

It would be interesting to see what categories the NRL offer compared to AFL. Do they have as many categories, some are Mickey Mouse in the AFL.

There are only about 490,000 people who buy memberships for 11+ games. The AFL in Victoria sell 14/15/16 game passes for club members who play at MCG and can attended some away games.

There are about 55,000 AFL members who get access to 40 odd games and have ticked a Club Support box and that club gets part of the membership fee paid to them from the AFL

There are about 10,000 stadium members ie 8,000 at AO and 2,000 elsewhere who get access to all games at the stadium - might he Perth Stadium.

So about 550,000 of 1,300,000 members are effectively season ticket members.

I get some people buy 9 game memberships for Kardinia Park and Carrara and they should be included in above calculation as they are forced by AFL to play 2 games at MCG and 2 in Darwin respectively by the AFL. I'm not sure if they are included in the Home games membership the AFL publish. It would make sense that they are.

 

[Capital Power]

I can only comment on my NRL team, the Sharks. Their home stadium has a 20,000 capacity (currently reduced to 15,000, around the size of Manuka for AFL), and they currently claim around 17,000 members. They have seemingly the same range the AFL has, from full season ticket through partial and non-ticketed options (including pet ). The reserved seating memberships are waitlisted, like they are for many AFL clubs.

There are two key differences I think in the NRL - many teams play in their own (smaller) local stadium still, and culturally the concept of membership is a new one. I'm not sure it even existed in the days when I was an active fan.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

I can only comment on my NRL team, the Sharks. Their home stadium has a 20,000 capacity (currently reduced to 15,000, around the size of Manuka for AFL), and they currently claim around 17,000 members. They have seemingly the same range the AFL has, from full season ticket through partial and non-ticketed options (including pet ). The reserved seating memberships are waitlisted, like they are for many AFL clubs.

There are two key differences I think in the NRL - many teams play in their own (smaller) local stadium still, and culturally the concept of membership is a new one. I'm not sure it even existed in the days when I was an active fan.

They had season ticket memberships when I first moved to Sydney 30 odd years ago, but they weren't heavily promoted.

The whole licensed club membership seemed to be more important to people who followed League and went to games, and they would pay at the gate when they decided to go watch a game.

Those licensed clubs of course sold tens of thousands of $5 and $10 memberships for people who had no real interest in league, but wanted to use the food and beverage facilities of the licensed clubs, and some mainly to play the pokies.

In the VFL, club memberships were under 10,000 before expansion into a national comp and more importantly teams played at their home grounds like the NRL teams do. The move by so many Vic teams to MCG and Waverley/Docklands in the mid to late 90's and beyond changed all that. Also the AFL getting a 23,000 seat reserve in the then new Southern Stand in 1992, saw people buy AFL Memberships with Club support and that started to grow Vic club memberships.

WCE took a few years to sell lots of memberships, but once they were successful they sold out Subiaco and in SA from day 1 people nsigned up for crows memberships. Here are the figures for 1984 to 1987 - the first year of Brisbane and WCE.

	1984	1985	1986	1987
ADE	—	—	—	—
BRI	—	—	—	3,449
CAR	12,774	13,317	14,905	9,227
COL	16,313	16,857	13,971	9,500
ESS	10,231	11,376	12,607	8,129
FIT	8,085	6,909	7,952	4,503
FSC	6,491	8,030	8,433	3,452
GEE	7.709	7,718	6,985	6,981
HAW	8,051	7,713	7,335	6,516
MEL	6,297	5,801	4,511	3,122
NM	6,374	6,520	5,318	3,430
RCH	6,822	7,137	5,772	2,825
STK	4,930	5,708	4,321	3,924
SYD	2,750	2,777	4,927	3,594
WCE	—	—	—	2,800
Total	96,827	99,863	97,037	71,452

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Confirmed by The_Wookie that clubs can hand out freebie memberships and the AFL will count them as long as data is attached to the freebie member.

The_Wookie do you know when they got rid of the minimum $50 spend criteria? Was it 2021 when you made this tweet or earlier than that?

 

[Doctor Feel]

Confirmed by The_Wookie that clubs can hand out freebie memberships and the AFL will count them as long as data is attached to the freebie member.

The_Wookie do you know when they got rid of the minimum $50 spend criteria? Was it 2021 when you made this tweet or earlier than that?


View attachment 2313795

this has really shown over the last few years as our membership numbers became increasingly bogus.

 

[Enviable Tradition]

Confirmed by The_Wookie that clubs can hand out freebie memberships and the AFL will count them as long as data is attached to the freebie member.

The_Wookie do you know when they got rid of the minimum $50 spend criteria? Was it 2021 when you made this tweet or earlier than that?


View attachment 2313795

My youngest got one of these free memberships with his Auskick reg.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

My youngest got one of these free memberships with his Auskick reg.

Pretty sure that started pre Covid.

 

[Alberton Proud]

My youngest got one of these free memberships with his Auskick reg.

Auskickers would be a huge percentage of all clubs numbers

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Auskickers would be a huge percentage of all clubs numbers

No they arent. There is some restriction who they count. Its around 100k to 120k of the 1.3 million total.

 

[Alberton Proud]

From what I can see, if you nominate your AFL club when you register you automatically receive a Auskick Junior Membership which generally gives 4 games GA access

This would have to be included in the membership tallies and doesn't seem restricted other than having to nominate a club of choice

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

From what I can see, if you nominate your AFL club when you register you automatically receive a Auskick Junior Membership which generally gives 4 games GA access

This would have to be included in the membership tallies and doesn't seem restricted other than having to nominate a club of choice

You have to nominate your club so that is a restriction, also a lot of kids who go to Auskick are already members of clubs - parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts etc sign them for both access and non access memberships - to get membership packs, with merchandise, being as important as game day access. These kids aren't double counted.

From AFL breakdown of membership categories the last few years

Category	2024​	2023​	2022​	2021​	2020​
Auskickers	106,430	108,437	82,234	N/A	N/A

 

[El Zorro]

No they arent. There is some restriction who they count. Its around 100k to 120k of the 1.3 million total.

8-9% is a pretty sizable percentage of mickey mouse memberships. And they are not the only category of BS memberships.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

8-9% is a pretty sizable percentage of mickey mouse memberships. And they are not the only category of BS memberships.

Sizeable, but not huge as was posted.

5 game category for country members isn't Mickey Mouse. People who have to drive several hours to get to games all across Oz can't make every game given the various time slots.

When North and Hawthorn play 4 games in Tassie, I don't think those Tassie memberships are Mickey Mouse.

Geelong and Gold Coast play 9 games at their home ground and are forced to play 2 games at MCG and Darwin by the AFL. Are those 9 games included in the Home category or the Reduced Access total?? I assumed as Reduced Access.

What about Docklands home clubs who only play 7 games at Docklands the rest at MCG or away from Docklands. Are those members who only buy memberships for Docklands home games in the Home category or the Reduced Access total?? I assumed as Reduced Access.


These are the membership categories the AFL breakdown post Covid.

Category	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
Home	363,072	359,564	345,080	N/A	N/A
Home and Away	125,520	122,628	138,876	N/A	N/A
Reduced Acess	247,210	227,772	205,680	N/A	N/A
Country	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
3 Games	174,849	163,412	143,783	N/A	N/A
Non Access	166,651	152,744	145,258	N/A	N/A
Auskickers	106,430	108,437	82,234	N/A	N/A
AFLW	68,743	66,362	70,275	N/A	N/A
AFL + Stadium members	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
AFL members	56,299	51,517	49,238	N/A	N/A
Stadium members	10,913	12,516	10,427	N/A	N/A
Total	1,319,687	1,264,952	1,190,851	1,113,441	992,854
Access to at least 11 games	555,804	546,225	543,621	N/A	N/A
Home + Home and Away	488,592	482,192	483,956	#VALUE!​	#VALUE!​
Category	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
Adult	890,400	852,678	818,221	726,897	669,745
Junior	326,000	308,308	273,579	286,737	233,067
Concession	103,300	103,966	98,871	99,807	90,042
Total	1,319,700	1,264,952	1,190,671	1,113,441	992,854

 

[El Zorro]

Sizeable, but not huge as was posted.

5 game category for country members isn't Mickey Mouse. People who have to drive several hours to get to games all across Oz can't make every game given the various time slots.

When North and Hawthorn play 4 games in Tassie, I don't think those Tassie memberships are Mickey Mouse.

Geelong and Gold Coast play 9 games at their home ground and are forced to play 2 games at MCG and Darwin by the AFL. Are those 9 games included in the Home category or the Reduced Access total?? I assumed as Reduced Access.

What about Docklands home clubs who only play 7 games at Docklands the rest at MCG or away from Docklands. Are those members who only buy memberships for Docklands home games in the Home category or the Reduced Access total?? I assumed as Reduced Access.


These are the membership categories the AFL breakdown post Covid.

Category	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
Home	363,072	359,564	345,080	N/A	N/A
Home and Away	125,520	122,628	138,876	N/A	N/A
Reduced Acess	247,210	227,772	205,680	N/A	N/A
Country	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
3 Games	174,849	163,412	143,783	N/A	N/A
Non Access	166,651	152,744	145,258	N/A	N/A
Auskickers	106,430	108,437	82,234	N/A	N/A
AFLW	68,743	66,362	70,275	N/A	N/A
AFL + Stadium members	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
AFL members	56,299	51,517	49,238	N/A	N/A
Stadium members	10,913	12,516	10,427	N/A	N/A
Total	1,319,687	1,264,952	1,190,851	1,113,441	992,854
Access to at least 11 games	555,804	546,225	543,621	N/A	N/A
Home + Home and Away	488,592	482,192	483,956	#VALUE!​	#VALUE!​
Category	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
Adult	890,400	852,678	818,221	726,897	669,745
Junior	326,000	308,308	273,579	286,737	233,067
Concession	103,300	103,966	98,871	99,807	90,042
Total	1,319,700	1,264,952	1,190,671	1,113,441	992,854

So, most of the growth is in Auskickers, reduced access and 3-game "memberships". All the other categories are flat.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

So, most of the growth is in Auskickers, reduced access and 3-game "memberships". All the other categories are flat.

and AFLW.

Between 2016 and 2024 the total has increased by 444k. The new Categories have been the biggest additions.

3 Games 175k
Auskick. 106k
AFLW.......69k
--------------
Total.... 350k

AFL don't say where the freebie, cheapie memberships are, but they usually get given away once the season is well underway, clubs and AFL want that KPI met, so probably they sit in the 3 games and Reduced Access category as well as getting those Auskickers who might do programs in June and July get their memberships.

Category	2024	2023	2022	2019	2018	2016
Home	363,072	359,564	345,080	360,007	345,079	338,539
Home and Away	125,520	122,628	138,876	115,826	111,554	113,213
Reduced Access	247,210	227,772	205,680	129,327	121,413	152,197
Country	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	82,036
3 Games	174,849	163,412	143,783	166,599	151,186	-
Non Access	166,651	152,744	145,258	123,321	126,090	134,404
Auskickers	106,430	108,437	82,234	87,500	84,385	-
AFLW	68,743	66,362	70,275	14,006	9,406	-
AFL + Stadium members	N/A	N/A	N/A	60,986	59,381	54,808
AFL members	56,299	51,517	49,238
Stadium members	10,913	12,516	10,427
Total	1,319,687	1,264,952	1,190,851	1,057,572	1,008,494	875,197
Access to at least 11 games	555,804	546,225	543,621	536,819	516,014	506,560
Home + Home and Away	488,592	482,192	483,956	475,833	456,633	451,752
Category	2024	2023	2022	2019​	2018​	2016​
Adult	890,400	852,678	818,221	685,183	651,669	70%​
Junior	326,000	308,308	273,579	280,113	266,662	21%​
Concession	103,300	103,966	98,871	92,276	90,163	9%​
Total	1,319,700	1,264,952	1,190,671	1,057,572	1,008,494

 

[TeeKray]

In the end they're just trying to create the illusion of growth in what has been a challenging inflationary environment where a highly elastic entertainment product like AFL really shouldn't be expecting any growth whatsoever and in fact would be doing well to not be going backwards. It's best just to ignore the numbers because they are meaningless and designed to be pitched to various sponsors, etc, more than anything else.

 

[El Zorro]

and AFLW.

Between 2016 and 2024 the total has increased by 444k. The new Categories have been the biggest additions.

3 Games 175k
Auskick. 106k
AFLW.......69k
--------------
Total.... 350k

Category	2024	2023	2022	2019	2018	2016
Home	363,072	359,564	345,080	360,007	345,079	338,539
Home and Away	125,520	122,628	138,876	115,826	111,554	113,213
Reduced Access	247,210	227,772	205,680	129,327	121,413	152,197
Country	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	82,036
3 Games	174,849	163,412	143,783	166,599	151,186	-
Non Access	166,651	152,744	145,258	123,321	126,090	134,404
Auskickers	106,430	108,437	82,234	87,500	84,385	-
AFLW	68,743	66,362	70,275	14,006	9,406	-
AFL + Stadium members	N/A	N/A	N/A	60,986	59,381	54,808
AFL members	56,299	51,517	49,238
Stadium members	10,913	12,516	10,427
Total	1,319,687	1,264,952	1,190,851	1,057,572	1,008,494	875,197
Access to at least 11 games	555,804	546,225	543,621	536,819	516,014	506,560
Home + Home and Away	488,592	482,192	483,956	475,833	456,633	451,752
Category	2024	2023	2022	2019​	2018​	2016​
Adult	890,400	852,678	818,221	685,183	651,669	70%​
Junior	326,000	308,308	273,579	280,113	266,662	21%​
Concession	103,300	103,966	98,871	92,276	90,163	9%​
Total	1,319,700	1,264,952	1,190,671	1,057,572	1,008,494

I was looking at the last 3 years, as that's the only period with a full set of data.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

In the end they're just trying to create the illusion of growth in what has been a challenging inflationary environment where a highly elastic entertainment product like AFL really shouldn't be expecting any growth whatsoever and in fact would be doing well to not be going backwards. It's best just to ignore the numbers because they are meaningless and designed to be pitched to various sponsors, etc, more than anything else.

But AFL love saying, memberships are up, crowds are up and TV ratings are up. They love the touchy feely feelgood stuff not the hard stuff like the Rioli incident and now the Ryan concussion umpire inaction stuff.

And TV ratings just can't be compared to 3 years ago, 5 years ago and 10 years ago.

New technology means they can now have additional ways of measuring/guestimating ratings.

Streaming, BVOD - Broadcast Video on Demand (ie Free TV providers) and SVOD - Subscription Video on Demand mean every couple of years you aren't really comparing apples with apples as the measuring tools are becoming more accurate.