2025 Membership Thread

[Charlie Bucket]

Yep it's a Ticketshitmaster issue. The footy club is just swept up in the whole disaster and doesn't really have much leverage. The AFL might but why would they want to rock the gravy boat?
Ticketshitek are just as bad.

Consumers are being treated like dummies and arguably are being defrauded by the "available seat" algorithm.
There needs to be an ACCC investigation into it. Write to your local member or maybe an independent senator. Or Four Corners perhaps.

It's a disgrace.

And it gets worse by the fact there’s no Ticketmaster contact number to discuss better available seating.

Guess we just have to cop it and continue to bring it up with the club.

 

[dogwatch]

And it gets worse by the fact there’s no Ticketmaster contact number to discuss better available seating.

Guess we just have to cop it and continue to bring it up with the club.

In their case the "no human to talk to" is not just a labour saving measure. It also effectively shuts down 90% or more of the complaints people have. Most people simply couldn't be bothered taking their grievances to another level. Or don't know who to take it to.

And the ticketing agencies know they have a captive market so they can afford to be arrogant and unresponsive to consumers.

In 2014 Ticketek was reported to have 72% of the ticketing market and Ticketmaster 26%. That's massive! More recently it was reported that Ticketmaster has increased it's share relative to Ticketek but they now have only 85% of the market between them. That's down from 98% if these figures are correct.

It's still massive but it means the smaller agencies have found a viable niche for themselves. For example we buy quite a few tickets to arts and public affairs events through Humanitix. Humanitix has the added benefit of doing a modest amount of social good with the revenue from its transaction fees.

This increased market share may not just be good marketing on behalf of those smaller agencies but also a recognition from event holders that there has to be a better way than putting their business in the hands of the rapacious larger agencies.

Yes it's worth continuing to bring up with the club the matter of having to sit with rude and loudmouthed opposition meatheads when you have paid to sit in what you expected would be a Bulldogs-only preserve. While some of the general anti-consumer practices of the large agencies is way beyond the control of the footy club, they might have some discretion on whether to sell supposedly Bulldogs-only seats to opposition supporters.

Even if they do have that discretion, it's still a big step to get them to forgo the revenue from those sales. Our club knows only too well the importance of keeping in the black on the balance sheet.

Anyway let us know if you make any headway, CB. We're all stakeholders in this.

 

[DueWest]

Last game I attended had Hawks fans sitting in the Bulldogs reserves area being right ol' pricks to literally everybody around us. Wasn't great.

You often get oppo supporters in member areas, most are ok however you get those in there to stir up trouble often, usually ends with security, it is a problem

 

[flamethrower]

As a flexi-member the biggest issue with Ticketmaster is that you can't select actual seats - only an area (e.g. level 2 wing or level 2 behind the goals) and you are then offered the "best available" seats in that area. However, if you search as a non-member, you can see all the available seats in the various areas and select the actual seats that you want.

 

[Dale4captain]

We’ve broken our membership record again FYI. Should reach 65k comfortably this year if we make finals.

 

[GetDimmaBack]

Last game I attended had Hawks fans sitting in the Bulldogs reserves area being right ol' pricks to literally everybody around us. Wasn't great.

I always get an email from the club (and I assume other seatholders do, too) asking me to "send back" our seats if we can't make it so they can be resold...usually to opposition supporters.

I have never done it, and never will, in respect of our members who sit near us.
Don't know why, but oppo fans sitting in absent members' seats always seem to be of the highly obnoxious variety.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

I always get an email from the club (and I assume other seatholders do, too) asking me to "send back" our seats if we can't make it so they can be resold...usually to opposition supporters.

I have never done it, and never will, in respect of our members who sit near us.
Don't know why, but oppo fans sitting in absent members' seats always seem to be of the highly obnoxious variety.

I never understand why they don't just offer those seats at a small enough price to a Dogs fan that already has a GA membership first, then freeing up the GA areas to sell more tickets for those.

I know why, because they make less money that way.

 

[BallaratBulldog]

63,000 members record

The Western Bulldogs have eclipsed their membership record for a fourth consecutive season, exceeding 63,000 members for the first time in red, white and blue history.

 

[flamethrower]

I always get an email from the club (and I assume other seatholders do, too) asking me to "send back" our seats if we can't make it so they can be resold...usually to opposition supporters.

I have never done it, and never will, in respect of our members who sit near us.
Don't know why, but oppo fans sitting in absent members' seats always seem to be of the highly obnoxious variety.

Our games never sell out anyway -no real need for our members with reserved seats to resell them.

It would be nice if we had a reselling website like StubHub* or Craigslist in the USA so members can sell directly to other Bulldog members without Ticketmaster taking their cut.

 

[Turtleman3]

I always get an email from the club (and I assume other seatholders do, too) asking me to "send back" our seats if we can't make it so they can be resold...usually to opposition supporters.

I have never done it, and never will, in respect of our members who sit near us.
Don't know why, but oppo fans sitting in absent members' seats always seem to be of the highly obnoxious variety.

and always sit right near me.

 

[hilly]

Any of you chaps/ladies know what the deal is with the $5 membership for the next two games? My wife is an AFL/Dogs convert and my read is you get placed on auto-renewal for 2026 but have the chance to opt-out? Thanks in advance.

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

Any of you chaps/ladies know what the deal is with the $5 membership for the next two games? My wife is an AFL/Dogs convert and my read is you get placed on auto-renewal for 2026 but have the chance to opt-out? Thanks in advance.

Good question. Full memberships frequently get rolled over without consent. I don’t really know how that would work with a $5 membership. They are grubs but I don’t think she’s going to get slugged with an out-of-the-blue $800 Premiership Gold membership next year.

 

[Dogs 13]

Any of you chaps/ladies know what the deal is with the $5 membership for the next two games? My wife is an AFL/Dogs convert and my read is you get placed on auto-renewal for 2026 but have the chance to opt-out? Thanks in advance.

Yeah you go onto the Committed Bulldog auto renew plan.
Come on hilly, you know it would be poor form to buy a budget membership then not renew her as a full member next season.
After all, she deserves nothing but the best doesn’t she

 

[hilly]

Good question. Full memberships frequently get rolled over without consent. I don’t really know how that would work with a $5 membership. They are grubs but I don’t think she’s going to get slugged with an out-of-the-blue $800 Premiership Gold membership next year.

Thanks mate, I have enough headaches with auto-renewal as it is.

 

[hilly]

Yeah you go onto the Committed Bulldog auto renew plan.
Come on hilly, you know it would be poor form to buy a budget membership then not renew her as a full member next season.
After all, she deserves nothing but the best doesn’t she

LOL, thanks D13.

 

[Dale4captain]

65k members

 

[House_of_Dahl]

65k members

Yeah just got the email. That is not small club numbers!

 

[Chicago1]

I read the title of the notification on my phone "A Letter from Your President" and thought that maybe the jig was up and that Trump had read my posts on the Politics board. I was preparing myself for my passport being confiscated.

 

[Freshwater]

We have had terrible season for us fans who live out of town, as far as fixturing has gone. So many interstate games, many Thursday nights and last weeks 4:40pm Sunday is ridiculous.
When Ballarat couldn’t host Adelaide and we got an early Saturday arvo at Marvel it was great. Many could go and we got 41,000 against an interstate team. We should get 45,000-50,000 this Sunday?

 

[Johnny_Dogg4]

65k members

the 2016 flag didnt get us a massive jump as i expected, but 65k is decent

 

[geoffjennings79]

Imagine if all the alts on here were able to also register an alt membership?!

 

[_Cerberus_]

Just a friendly reminder that the Auto-renewals go through on the 28th of October this year. So if you need to cancel, or change it over. Do it soon. I was going to cancel mine just before, then realized my monthly payment plan rolls over, instead of it being a big lump sum that I was spooked about. I rolls over your existing plan.

 

[Spiritof82]

I just got my renewal email sent out by the club, I've got Gold with a reserved seat on Level 2 and the price has gone up $199 (approx 33%) from last season (this year $600, next year $799). I checked the previous 2 seasons and the average increase was $25 so I've love to know why its gone up nearly 10 times more, maybe the club has decided that the supporters have to pay for JUH's drinking money.
I pay by cash as I have no trust in Ticketek so I'll drop down to the club and see if they can explain the massive price hike. Not sure how much the other membership types have increased.

 

[Turtleman3]

I just got my renewal email sent out by the club, I've got Gold with a reserved seat on Level 2 and the price has gone up $199 (approx 33%) from last season (this year $600, next year $799). I checked the previous 2 seasons and the average increase was $25 so I've love to know why its gone up nearly 10 times more, maybe the club has decided that the supporters have to pay for JUH's drinking money.
I pay by cash as I have no trust in Ticketek so I'll drop down to the club and see if they can explain the massive price hike. Not sure how much the other membership types have increased.

EJ Whitten Social Club membership with a reserved seat on the wing on Level 1 has gone from $720 a year to $755 a year.

 

[grassman75]

I just got my renewal email sent out by the club, I've got Gold with a reserved seat on Level 2 and the price has gone up $199 (approx 33%) from last season (this year $600, next year $799). I checked the previous 2 seasons and the average increase was $25 so I've love to know why its gone up nearly 10 times more, maybe the club has decided that the supporters have to pay for JUH's drinking money.
I pay by cash as I have no trust in Ticketek so I'll drop down to the club and see if they can explain the massive price hike. Not sure how much the other membership types have increased.

Yet someone won’t pay all year and will buy a 1 game membership next July or August and jump you in the queue for finalis tickets