Membership Numbers Rort 2021

dave10

Premiership Player
Apr 26, 2004
4,275
3,456
Melbourne
AFL Club
Essendon
I’ve just found out that a mate of mine purchased two X 3 game Carlton memberships and for each membership, received a free membership! Carlton fans, have I got this right?

If Carltons membership stands currently at just over 50,000, I reckon there’s possibly 10,000 of this total given away as ‘free’.

How can we possibly take clubs reported membership numbers, and their reported growth seriously? I’m sure other clubs puff up their figures in a similar way to this, leveraging COVID to retain and inflate their figures concurrently.

It’s a rort and in all honesty we can’t take these figures too seriously anymore. It’s the membership revenue that clubs generate that counts.
 
Aug 22, 2009
49
98
Melbourne
AFL Club
Carlton
Other Teams
Chelsea
I gave my free one to my brother who has never been a member. Due to how s**t the year has been and how much joy footy gave us (Carlton not so much) he’s already called and made it a full one so paid the difference. There’d be a few people doing that I’d guess
 
May 7, 2008
1,677
2,314
Melbourne
AFL Club
Richmond
In the end, it is dollars through the door which matter to a club. If your membership numbers are buffed a little by having 5000 hamsters on the roll its fine as long as they pay up and don't slow down the lines when you are buying beers or lining up to the dunnies at half time.

Bragging rights are harmless, you can judge a team's support by how they pack the stands.
 
In the end, it is dollars through the door which matter to a club. If your membership numbers are buffed a little by having 5000 hamsters on the roll its fine as long as they pay up and don't slow down the lines when you are buying beers or lining up to the dunnies at half time.

Bragging rights are harmless, you can judge a team's support by how they pack the stands.

The numbers would matter to the sponsors.

I'm sure clubs would receive a few extra $$$ from sponsors knowing that their logo will be sent out in the members pack and on communications with members (etc). The more recipients, the more $$$.
 

BoundbyKreuze

Cancelled
Feb 9, 2020
1,463
2,997
AFL Club
Carlton
I gave my free one to my brother who has never been a member. Due to how sh*t the year has been and how much joy footy gave us (Carlton not so much) he’s already called and made it a full one so paid the difference. There’d be a few people doing that I’d guess
Every free membership given out May or may not be recorded but it’s only free for the year. If data suggests growth this year they would drop dramatically in 2022 as a result of the free memberships not being renewed. Time will tell. I have mine to the Carlton cheer squad who were passing onto people in need.
 
The biggest question is, why would anyone care about club membership numbers?

Other than acting as a dick measuring contest between the bigger supported clubs they don't mean anything. Revenue is a far better measure if you really needed to compare anyway.

Sports fans are being competitive about something?

Unthinkable!



It does matter though...more fans/members -> more money (both directly and from sponsors) -> more on field success -> more fans/members -> repeat.
 
Mar 15, 2012
8,182
23,723
Melbourne
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Sports fans are being competitive about something?

Unthinkable!



It does matter though...more fans/members -> more money (both directly and from sponsors) -> more on field success -> more fans/members -> repeat.
I certainly agree that revenue and profit makes a difference towards that, but total membership numbers without context (ie 3 game/'free' memberships vs platinum) don't tell much of a story. Unless perhaps you're fooling the sponsors.
 

Dangerousfield

Premiership Player
Oct 11, 2012
3,873
6,028
AFL Club
Adelaide
The numbers would matter to the sponsors.

I'm sure clubs would receive a few extra $$$ from sponsors knowing that their logo will be sent out in the members pack and on communications with members (etc). The more recipients, the more $$$.
Are hamsters interested in the sponsors product?

I stopped being interested in membership numbers when the total clearly exceeded home ground capacity by some distance. Even GWS has more "members" than seats at Whateveritscalled Stadium
 
I certainly agree that revenue and profit makes a difference towards that, but total membership numbers without context (ie 3 game/'free' memberships vs platinum) don't tell much of a story. Unless perhaps you're fooling the sponsors.

A 'free' 3 game membership which comes with a pack filled with stuff covered in sponsors logos, and may draw otherwise unwilling people to games (a boost to attendance numbers as well food&beverage revenue) might not add the same as a high end coterie member might provide, but it would still be adding value, and clearly the bean counters at the clubs think the benefits outweigh the costs.

Also, a free member wouldn't count towards the official numbers...There are minimum requirements, and revenue is one of them. (I think it has to be at least $50).
 

CarnTheScray

Norm Smith Medallist
Jun 4, 2019
6,787
8,363
Ballarat
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Membership revenue rankings matter more. The membership tallies may only matter to those who want their club to succeed and those who have massive inferiority complexes and need to compare it with other teams.
 

sosos

Premiership Player
Apr 5, 2007
4,712
11,633
Melbourne
AFL Club
Carlton
I've bantered with a mate for years about getting a membership. Gave him the free one this year and hopefully he'll re-sign in 2022.

It's a bit of smart marketing giving something to get more down the track.
 
Aug 4, 2003
22,984
23,442
WA
AFL Club
West Coast
Pretty sure WCE include people who are paying to be on a waiting list to be an actual member included on their tally.

It’s mainly just a head count of people who are financially contributing to that side of the club. Whether it’s $50 or $5000, doesn’t really make a difference.

Oh and as has been stated, it means nothing - I would assume most important to membership department KPI watchers and BigFooty points scorers.
 
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