Hawks make ninth consecutive profit

Hawkk

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http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,17272536%5E20322,00.html

HAWTHORN has recorded a small profit of $90,937, its ninth in succession under the presidency of Ian Dicker.

Chief executive Ian Robson said the club was delighted with the result, considering the challenges the Hawks had faced during the year.

"It's been a mixed bag of outcomes right across our business," Robson said yesterday.

"We've had improved attendances and gate takings, but we were down in membership initially.

"One of the consequences of having 10 players make their debut meant we blew our budget on transfer fees significantly.

"But we were delighted that despite those challenging trading conditions, we were able to record a profit, and we still have a positive balance sheet.

"Those include cash reserves, unencumbered assets like the social club, and one of the other areas where we had a fantastic return was our investments."

Hawthorn's profit was achieved on a turnover of $29.46 million, up from $27.75 million in 2004. It has a total of $4,368,000 in cash ($1,649,000) and shares ($2,719,000) invested.

Memorabilia collected by the club throughout the years has been independently valued for insurance purposes at $1,716,860. That figure is not recorded in the financial statements.

One of the largest increases in revenue was from donations and special fundraising efforts: $1,582,269 in 2005, as opposed to $260,874 in 2004.

Robson said this figure was achieved from several well-publicised efforts, including a private auction staged in October.

"The club was very grateful for the support of a wide range of supporters and sponsors," Robson said. "The most notable example of that was the private auction that was held in mid-October."

Robson said because it was unencumbered by debt, the club was able to negotiate key tenancy agreements at the MCG.

"But you can never get complacent," he said.

"The beauty of the Victorian market is that there is such devotion and focus on footy, but equally the competition is intense for corporate and hospitality dollars.

"Annually we go out and beat the drum to get our members to renew and support the club with their cheque books and their wallets, because it's just so crucial."
............................................................................................................................

Very impressive considering the terrible season we had.

Hawthorn remains in the top 3 out of the Victorian clubs for turnover, which is important
 

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RustyHawk

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#2
"One of the largest increases in revenue was from donations and special fundraising efforts: $1,582,269 in 2005, as opposed to $260,874 in 2004. "

Where would we be without that increase in revenue?

Will we get that sort of revenue next year from donations & special fundraising? I hope so.
 

Hawkk

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RustyHawk said:
"One of the largest increases in revenue was from donations and special fundraising efforts: $1,582,269 in 2005, as opposed to $260,874 in 2004. "

Where would we be without that increase in revenue?

Will we get that sort of revenue next year from donations & special fundraising? I hope so.
Agreed but you would hope that our membership, merchandise, sponsorship etc would be up next year compared to last year. Which was our worst year for 50 years and with all the developments at the club in the off season.

Also when you compare it to the Saints for example who had a couple of years on the bottom like us, recorded consective 1 500 000+ losses in the early 2000's.

Then again Im a half full man and not a half empty man.
 
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Good call Hawkk,

That is why Ian Dicker was (despite the occasional hiccup) a terrific president. He gathered together very successful (and rich) supporters and motivated them to contribute to the club at its time of need.

Huge losses like those suffered at the Tigers, Demons and Saints have the potential to tear at the fabric of clubs and take years and years to overcome.

Well done Ian Dicker and the MIGHTY HAWKS!!!
 

Hawkk

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GoHawks!! said:
Good call Hawkk,

That is why Ian Dicker was (despite the occasional hiccup) a terrific president. He gathered together very successful (and rich) supporters and motivated them to contribute to the club at its time of need.

Huge losses like those suffered at the Tigers, Demons and Saints have the potential to tear at the fabric of clubs and take years and years to overcome.

Well done Ian Dicker and the MIGHTY HAWKS!!!
Exactly it's almost impossible to avoid a subustantial loss when you are on the bottom of the ladder as shown by the 3 teams that you mentioned, but what Ian did was that he motivated supporters, especially the wealthier supporters to dig deep and in the process help avoid internal conflict.

In summary; he went outside the square, outside what he had to do as a president for the better ment of the club.
 
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Correct, and that is why although we can all spend our hard earned on other things, the plebs who support our club must sign up as members to avoid the "leaving too much to too little" mentality that has existed in the past.

I will be signing up for the 8th year (so will my eight year old son) even though, as Qld residents we do not get a lot of value from doing so.
 

turtle27

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#7
GoHawks!! said:
Good call Hawkk,

That is why Ian Dicker was (despite the occasional hiccup) a terrific president. He gathered together very successful (and rich) supporters and motivated them to contribute to the club at its time of need.

Huge losses like those suffered at the Tigers, Demons and Saints have the potential to tear at the fabric of clubs and take years and years to overcome.

Well done Ian Dicker and the MIGHTY HAWKS!!!
Nine profits in a row is fantastic work.

GoHawks, we turned around our $2.2M loss in one year to a $50K profit.
 
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Thanks Turtle, well done to the Tigers. I was not having a slap at the Tigers (who could not like a team with the best entertainer in the AFL in Richo!! ;) ) but I thought the Tiges lost money the year before as well.

My comparison is that it can be difficult for any Melbourne based club to turn things around if the "meat and potato" supporters are not heavily involved by buying memberships.
 

turtle27

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GoHawks!! said:
Thanks Turtle, well done to the Tigers. I was not having a slap at the Tigers (who could not like a team with the best entertainer in the AFL in Richo!! ;) ) but I thought the Tiges lost money the year before as well.

My comparison is that it can be difficult for any Melbourne based club to turn things around if the "meat and potato" supporters are not heavily involved by buying memberships.
You're right, fortunately for the Tigs and the Hawks, our membership bases are quite strong. Also, and not wanting to do much chest beating here, but the fact that Richmond fans still rock up and buy memberships and attend the games in great numbers after what we've been through, is passion and commitment at its best.
 

Gary Shadforth

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#10
Hawkk said:
Robson said because it was unencumbered by debt, the club was able to negotiate key tenancy agreements at the MCG.
This is a very crucial point. How many other Melbourne club's CEOs can lay claim to the same?

GoHawks!! said:
That is why Ian Dicker was (despite the occasional hiccup) a terrific president. He gathered together very successful (and rich) supporters and motivated them to contribute to the club at its time of need.

Well done Ian Dicker and the MIGHTY HAWKS!!!
Fully concur, GH. And keep in mind Ian said at the huge gathering post last Brisbane Gabba game he would continue supporting and be interested in the interstate supporter groups after his presidency.
 
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Hey I was there for that Shadders as I am from the Gold Coast as well!! As a matter of fact, my son was one of the Hawks mascots that day. Thought if we had kicked straight early we probably could have beaten the Lions that day.

In the end, probably better not to have so we can get Josh Kennedy, Shannon Hurn or one of the other young guns at Pick 3 ;)
 

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Hawkk

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turtle27 said:
You're right, fortunately for the Tigs and the Hawks, our membership bases are quite strong. Also, and not wanting to do much chest beating here, but the fact that Richmond fans still rock up and buy memberships and attend the games in great numbers after what we've been through, is passion and commitment at its best.
I agree 100% and thats why both teams will be in the AFL for many years to come :thumbsu:
 

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#13
Hawkk said:
Agreed but you would hope that our membership, merchandise, sponsorship etc would be up next year compared to last year. .
MEMBERSHIP UP NEXT YEAR :eek: 2006 might be the first year i might not get a membership in 12 years. Five of my mates are in the same boat.
Problem is that we have always got 11 game, social club reserved seating.
I have put up with the last few years of Hawks playing in Tassie and getting away entry to certain games, but with the membership i had was always losing out.
Now the club have moved 1 more game interstate to Carrara, we end up with 5 home games at the G and i cannot justify the $350.00 anymore.
 

Hawkk

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Beckers said:
MEMBERSHIP UP NEXT YEAR :eek: 2006 might be the first year i might not get a membership in 12 years. Five of my mates are in the same boat.
Problem is that we have always got 11 game, social club reserved seating.
I have put up with the last few years of Hawks playing in Tassie and getting away entry to certain games, but with the membership i had was always losing out.
Now the club have moved 1 more game interstate to Carrara, we end up with 5 home games at the G and i cannot justify the $350.00 anymore.
Maybe in 2007 then. As seen within the article Hawthorn is very keen to renew its tenancy with the MCG, perhaps this is a favor so Hawthorn has 9 MCG home games next season.

Membership is a small bite in the turn over pie, you have merchandise; which will increase with performances and sponsorship; where the club should be looking to gain all the medium sized buisness in the the Waverley region again. All up apart from next year, the signs are remarkable for the future and expect a massive hike in turnover in years to come and hopefully more members
 

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Beckers said:
MEMBERSHIP UP NEXT YEAR :eek: 2006 might be the first year i might not get a membership in 12 years. Five of my mates are in the same boat.
Problem is that we have always got 11 game, social club reserved seating.
I have put up with the last few years of Hawks playing in Tassie and getting away entry to certain games, but with the membership i had was always losing out.
Now the club have moved 1 more game interstate to Carrara, we end up with 5 home games at the G and i cannot justify the $350.00 anymore.
Beckers, this is quite concerning - have you contacted the club to express your thoughts with them?
 

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Gary Shadforth said:
Beckers, this is quite concerning - have you contacted the club to express your thoughts with them?
Contacted the club when the draw was released and they assured us that the draw would be factored into the membership pricing, especially for reserved seating.
We recieved he membership package in Hawk Talk this week and it seems that not much has changed as far as i can tell.
 

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To expand on the above further, when home games were played at Telstra Dome, we didn't get our reserved seating or social club bar, rather a section of seats for Hawthorn members.
In 2006, i think the break down of home games are(correct me if i am wrong):
5 at the MCG.
3 at Testra Dome.
2 at Launceston.
1 at Carrara.

We get entry to 3 away games but once again without the privledges. The club might end up losing alot of extra income in 2006.
....and to the guy who advised that membership is only a small part of the income stream, that is totally, 100% incorrect.
Membership numbers is not only income, it also attracts sponsors and other corportate income. If we had 10k members, HSBC would stay away like the plague!
 

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#19
Binxy said:
I've recently moved to the GC - what do you suggest is a good membership to buy as I won't be travelling to Melbourne too often.
Lucky bugger! :D
From what i remember, the best option is the 5 game interstate membership which was around the $100.00 mark. Bit steep if you only go to 2 or 3 games.
I will get exact details for you later.
 

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I've just received my membership letter. Not sure Ill be going above the usual ll game job but cant afford more.

Might have a go at the cheer squad.
 

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Katthawk said:
I've just received my membership letter. Not sure Ill be going above the usual ll game job but cant afford more.

Might have a go at the cheer squad.
Just got mine and i have to say that the Kennedy Club is a complete joke considering we only play 5 home games at the G and 2 at TD. You only get entry, and not seats or bar rights at away games.
We are discussing getting the gate entry membership.
 

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I will get mine in the mail next week sometime. I am going to rejoin as a country member.

It suits me really well because of my umpiring commitments in the winter.
 
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Come on ladies and gentlemen,

The club needs us to join up as members (whatever type you can afford).

Dig deep for one year, and think of the good years ahead once the G is completed.

I am from the Gold Coast but still buy a country membership to support my team financially and in spirit. There is nothing worse than seeing the Pies, Bummers, and Tigers etc going further ahead of the Hawks in the membership stakes!!
 
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