Who here on Bigfooty, is an AFL member?

[Dan26]

I am just interested to know how many of you on bigfooty are AFL full or restricted members? I am, and I know Mr Ripper is, but who else?

 

[PiesPremiers]

im an AFL restricted member..
should get offered my full next year...
next year will be my 8th year i think... i should have been offered a long time ago!! im not happy!!

 

[BIG POPPA PUMP]

yep, full member for a few years now...

should probably get more use out of it

 

[Dan26]

Originally posted by PiesPremiers
im an AFL restricted member..
should get offered my full next year...
next year will be my 8th year i think... i should have been offered a long time ago!! im not happy!!

Bloody medallion club *Grrrrrr*

 

[DOC]

MCC here but it is getting harder to justify. If the redevelopment puts up the cost. Could just be a N.M.F.C. member.

How do the AFL members feel about paying to get into the cricket ???

Also what is the go for you guys at the Docklands. We got in there last year but no more.

Another question is how long did you wait? It took 17 years for my restricted and another 5 for voting membership.

The atmosphere sux but it is a Grand final ticket every year.

Go the Skull !!!
J.I.T.C
THE DOC..

 

[Mobbs]

Nope.

 

[Captain Sensible]

AFL full member-Bulldogs club support package.

If ever the doggies get into the big one I'm laughing. (HA)

I think I only waited for 3 or 4 years to get full membership.

 

[Dan26]

Doc,

Was restricted in 1994, elevated to full in 1997. We get half the bottom level at Colonial, on the wing, and around to behind the goals.

 

[DOC]

Thanks Dan you have answered another question for me. Why the Socil club- Victory room is on one side and the reserved seats for those social club members is on the other.

Can the Bomber fans reserve their seat at Docklands with a support package in that area?

Go the Skull !!!
J.I.T.C
THE DOC..

 

[Smokin]

Yea, became a restricted in 93, and a year later got my full membership. Best investment Ive ever made!
It used to be great when I could use it at VFL park as well, and Ive sat in the MCC members area - and the atmosphere on that side of the G is pathetic. I got spoken to by some bloke with patches on his elbows for swearing, I mean - it's the bloody footy!

 

[Dan26]

Originally posted by DOC
Can the Bomber fans reserve their seat at Docklands with a support package in that area?

Yes, you can reserve a seat in the AFL reserve at Docklands if you want, or you can just get a ticket on the day. If the reserve is full at Colonial (which is rare), we then go to level four. I usually just get a ticket at the ground on the day, and just sit wherever I want.

 

[Dave]

Originally posted by DOC
How do the AFL members feel about paying to get into the cricket ???

Personally I don't think we should get in at all, any more than MCC members should get into the footy (going to start a bun fight here I'm sure!), after all what does the melbourne cricket club have to do with football? I know that the MCC funded most of the stands, but if I hire a hall for a party the owner doesn't get to tell me who I can invite so why should it be any different when the AFL uses the MCG for it's sport?

Also what is the go for you guys at the Docklands. We got in there last year but no more.

Yes, it's $4.50 to book a ticket, though I think if you rock up on the night it's free.

Another question is how long did you wait? It took 17 years for my restricted and another 5 for voting membership.

I joined as a VFL park member back in mumble mumble (sometime in the eighties). I had restricted membership up until 1993 (good year to go full!) and have been a club support member since then.

The atmosphere sux but it is a Grand final ticket every year.

After last year I'm not going again unless we get in. It's not fair that club members of the competing clubs miss out.

 

[Mr Ripper]

Originally posted by PiesPremiers
im an AFL restricted member..
should get offered my full next year...
next year will be my 8th year i think... i should have been offered a long time ago!! im not happy!!

Only in the past fortnight, my niece has been bumped up to full membership; having been on the restricted list since 1996.

PP, I think you're overdue!

 

[JUBJUB]

I have an AFL restricted membership.

 

[Hit The Boundary Saints]

Full member as of last year, the first time full members could not get a grand final ticket. I'm not sure what I paid the extra $110 to upgrade for.

 

[PiesPremiers]

yeah im not happy about it
maybe they have forgotten about me???

 

[Michael23]

MCC..no better value...cant see any value in a afl membership

 

[sainter]

Dan,

I paid the AFL membership waiting list fee around 3 years ago.

Every year when they send me the forms to join, I overlook it in favour of getting a saints social club membership. I'd rather see $350 go straight to St Kilda rather than a portion going to the club and rest to the AFL. Plus I will be guaranteed a GF ticket if we make it, and that is the only time I would really want to go anyway. (Like we will make another Grand Final in the near future )

I've been on the MCC waiting list for just over a year. I'm sure the next ten to twenty years will just fly.

 

[Dan26]

I was thinking of writing to the AFL membership department to recommend some changes (even though they probably won't listen). What do you guys think of these?:

• Firstly, I think restricted members should have access to the preliminary finals. Since the Great Southern Stand was built in 1992, there have been thirteen preliminary finals at the MCG (sometimes twice a year), and the reserve has never been full. Two of those preliminary finals have been Essendon vs Carlton matches, so if the reserve is not full for those match-ups, I doubt it will ever be full. Why not allow restricted members to go, but restrict the sale of guest passes instead? We often see a choc-a-bloc AFL members reserve for the qualifying finals and semi-finals (when restricted members can go), but we don't see it for the second most important game of the year, because 15,000 restricted members are denied access!
  
• Secondly, why is there a limit on the number of games members can access during the home and away season? Currently members can attend no more than 30 games. Now, I would assume that less than 5% of AFL members would use up their full-quota, so why not make it unlimited access to as many games as you want to go to? The AFL wouldn't lose anything. If anything, they would gain from more "record" sales and food purchases (eg catering) at the ground. It would add more value to membership, for those 5% of members who love their footy enough to go to 30 games a year.
  
• Why is it illegal to give your membership to another person? Medallion club membership is fully transferrable, for instance. If a member pays $400 dollars a year for their full AFL membership, then surely, it is their right to give it to whoever they want. After all, it is our membership, and we paid for it, so why can't we give it to anyone we want? What would the AFL lose out of it? They still get their $400 dollars a year. Why do they care if a member gives it to someone else?
  
• The ballot in June for the first 10,000 seats for the Grand Final should be first in first served in my opinion. Apparently it will be done randomly. When I was a restricted member in 1994-95, I entered a ballot for a limited number of Grand Final tickets for restricted members. It was first in first served, so I sent my form back in the mail as soon as I got it, and was lucky enough to get Grand Final tickets. Some members complained that the limited number was so small, that it should have been done randomly. I agreed with that and they changed in 1996 to a random ballot (I missed out)
  
  However, the 10,000 seats that will be offered in June are a different story. It is not a small number like the example I was referring to above. It is a LARGE number. Therefore, those that make the effort to send their form back within a day (or two), should easily get tickets. However, for some dumb reason, the 10,000 seats will be drawn randomly. Because there are so many seats up for grabs, I really do think, that if you make the effort to send your form in quickly, you should get a ticket. After all, those who line up at ticketmaster have to abide by the "first in best dressed" philosophy, so why not with the ballot too? If it was a small ballot, I would agree that it should be done randonly. But for such a big ballot, I think those that send their forms in first should get their tickets first.
  
• In 2000, reserved seats for the Anzac day game and the Round 20 Carlton-Essendon match cost $2 (booking fee) In 2001, the cost of the booking fee magically rose to $5.50. Why?
  
• I would be interested to know what advantage the AFL membership department sees in making the Grand Final (or any match for that matter) a fully ticketed affair, instead of having "walk up on the day" access? The AFL claim that it stops people queueing at 7:00 o'clock in the morning, therefore allowing more orderley access. Well, that's true, but the last time I checked, I had to line up at Ticketmaster on the Saturday night/Suday morning six days before the Grand Final for 12 hours, just so the AFL could have orderly access on the day. I spent more timie lining up for a reserved seat in 2000 than I spent waiting at the ground in 1997, when it was first in first served. Maybe the AFL should take a look at the queue of AFL members sleeping outsdie shopping centres for Grand Final tickets, before they make claims about orderley access
  
  When the Grand Final was last, first in first served in 1997 the crowd was 98,828. Since it became fully ticketed, the crowds have been 94,431, 94,228 and 96,249. If Members were locked out in a first in first served scenario, how is that any different to them missing out in a fully ticketed match by lining up at Ticketmaster, reaching the front of the line, only being told that the match is sold out? It's no different. In a first in first served scenario, all full members have always been able to get in with the exception of 1992, when guest passes were sold for the match and some full members missed out.
  

Does anyone agree with all of that, or are there some things you don't agree with? If some of you do happen to agree with what I have said, maybe you can e-mail me with you "agreeance" of the six points and I can send the results in to the AFL membership department. They don't listen to one person, but they may listen to twenty.

 

[Dave]

1, 2 & 3 agreed. Club memberships aren't transferrable so why are ours? The only reason I can see is that they are worried the reserve might be filled with people on borrowed cards when actual members miss out. I'd be pissed off if that happened.

4. Disagree. Mail is not always delivered to everyone at once. One years ballot a friend had sent his back before I even recieved mine. That's not fair.

5. Greed. The AFL will never be happy with how much money they make.

6. See above. 24K tickets * $30 = 750K. I wrote them a letter about it back when it was introduced and recived one back full of bulldust about how it's what the members wanted and how they don;t make any money out of it because of the extra attendants they had to pay (75K's worth my arse!), It also assured me that there would never be a sellout! What a laugh.

 

[dees01]

Originally posted by Dave


Personally I don't think we should get in at all, any more than MCC members should get into the footy (going to start a bun fight here I'm sure!), after all what does the melbourne cricket club have to do with football? I know that the MCC funded most of the stands, but if I hire a hall for a party the owner doesn't get to tell me who I can invite so why should it be any different when the AFL uses the MCG for it's sport?

Hey, MCC Members fees help fund the ground that you love so much. We helped with the Southern Stand ( a stand MCC MEMBERS do not use) and will with the Northern Stand. ANyway, the MCC manage the ground, they can do what they like. ANyway, home teams get money out of every member when they swipe their card anyway.

 

[Blues2001]

Yep, I'm a restricted member, a few thousand off being a full member (which means at least a couple of years). I still think its a good value package (esp. the restricted package).

 

[Richmondfan#1]

Nope.

Just a club member.

 

[Dan26]

Originally posted by Dave
4. Disagree. Mail is not always delivered to everyone at once. One years ballot a friend had sent his back before I even recieved mine. That's not fair.

That is exactly why a small ballot should be random. Often people get their mail at different times, as you said, so they should not be disadvantaged. Fair enough.

The difference is Dave, that this is a HUGE ballot. About 10,000 seats will be offered. Now some memebrs will miss out anyway, right? So, why not make the ones that miss out the ones that send their forms back last, and give the seats to the ones who send their forms back first?

Because of the huge number of seats, you could probably take two days to send it back and still get seats. Therefore, I don't think the fact that peple get their mail at different times is an issue. It is an issue for a small ballot, but not for a large ballot, in my opinion. In a small ballot, someone could miss out because they get their mail late. In a massive ballot like this, I don't think that is an issue. Lets say 25,000 members send their forms back. 15,000 will miss out, right?

If it is done randomly, 15,000 will miss out, and if it is done first in first served then 15,000 will miss out. It will work out being the same anyway, so why not just give it to the 10,000 who sent their forms back first, for the sake of fairness?

 

[Magpie Gal 19]

Well I became an AFL member when the Great Sothern Stand opened.

But last year and this year I bearly use it coz I rather use my club membership (seasons ticket).