The Herald-Sun has us at 70,000 members
AFL membership figures: Collingwood biggest club, but gap closing fastHerald-Sun
June 19, 2015 1:36PMCOLLINGWOOD’S place on top of the membership pile is under threat, with fellow Victorian power clubs Hawthorn and Richmond dramatically closing the gap this year.
On 2015 memberships compiled this week, the Hawks and Tigers have grown membership by more than five per cent to break through the 70,000 barrier, while the Magpie army has reduced by more than 6 per cent.
An announcement about the Tigers hitting 70,000 members is expected soon.Collingwood looked on the verge of signing 80,000 members after falling just 650 short in 2014.
But the Pies (74,000) now have only about 2000 more members than Hawthorn and just over 4000 more than the Tigers.
Clubs are still selling memberships and expect to do so for about another month, before the AFL begins auditing the figures.
The league has introduced rules about what constitutes legitimate membership.
Members must invest more than $50; give name and contact information and receive a membership pack. Pets are no longer allowed to be signed up.
Included in figures are non-access members, who sign up for packages which do not grant entry to games.
Almost 100,000 club members fit this category in 2014.
The league will again set a club membership record this season and continue a period of unbroken membership growth since the 2000 season.
The Adelaide clubs have done much of the heavy lifting this year, with fans giving the move to Adelaide Oval a massive tick.
Port Adelaide’s membership has grown a whopping 23 per cent to more than 60,000 and just a few thousand shy of Adelaide’s mark of 62,676.
The Crows membership figure has also increased by more than 15 per cent.
The Lance Franklin factor — coupled with Sydney’s continued on-field success — is paying dividends for the Swans, who signed more than 40,000 members for the first time in 2014 and smashed that record this year, with 48,000 members now on the books.
But Collingwood is by no means alone in returning a disappointing membership number.
The GWS Giants’ exciting start to the season has failed to translate into membership sales, with a worrying drop of about 11 per cent, on figures to date, leaving the club with just 11,500 members — down from more than 13,000 last year.
And the Mick Malthouse saga at Carlton has left the Blues not only short of a pre-season target of 50,000 members but also last year’s figure.
Carlton suffered a worrying loss of $1.6m last year, and was banking in no small way on a membership push to get back into the black.
The destabilising effect of the continued speculation surrounding Malthouse’s future can be seen in the numbers — Carlton had sold a tick over 45,000 memberships at Round 1 and relatively few since.
The Essendon doping saga appears to have finally tested the patience of some among the Bombers’ remarkably staunch membership, with the club suffering a 4 per cent drop off on figures to date.
The competition’s smaller clubs — including St Kilda, Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions — have all increased their memberships.
Melbourne, boosted last year by the recruitment of coach Paul Roos, has held on to its 35,000 members and could yet surpass last year’s figure.
The lift in membership numbers has also been reflected in fan turnout in 2015 — dubbed the “year of the fan”.
The average crowd at home-and-away matches last year was 32,333. So far this year (before the commencement of this round) that number is 33,319.
http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/afl-membership-figures-collingwood-biggest-club-but-gap-closing-fast/story-fndv8t7m-1227405778242
