The last post talked about the membership drives each of the teams is pushing right now, leading into the 2015 season which starts for "real" at the beginning of April.
And with any campaign, there are slogans to keep the attention of the viewing and listening public....Some of the slogans are (shall we say) better than others?
Kangaroos - "#getREAL"
Sydney Swans - "Feel it in '15"
Geelong - "We need you, be a member at home or far away"
Collingwood - "Side by side we stick together: it's more than a line in our song"
(what?)
None of those approach the dubious charm of some of Carlton's efforts a few years ago...
"They know we're coming" and "Can You Smell What The Blues Are Cooking?", straight out of The Rock's wrestling motto.
The all-time worst, in retrospect, belongs to the 2013 Essendon Dons, who were about to be embroiled in the worst doping scandal in AFL history: "Whatever It Takes". Really, Dons? It really ended up being "whatever it took", didn't it?
Some more of this year's better samples - "Unleash 2015" (Adelaide), "#ForeverFreo" (Fremantle), "My Heart Beats True" (Melbourne, a good slogan for a team trying to come back), "Bring The Noise" (Port Adelaide, to one of the louder fan bases in the league), and West Coast's "The West Is Ours" (always in a fan battle with its crosstown rival Fremantle). We kind of like some of the hashtag examples, too - #gatherthepack (Western Bulldogs), #StandTall (GWS, who has a great big front line), and #BelieveBelong (for Brisbane).
Showing posts with label membership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label membership. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Footy teams don't have "season ticket holders" - they have "members"...
And "members" are closer to "stockholders", the way the NFL's Green Bay Packers do it. Green Bay, the only community-owned football team in the US, has some unholy number of stockholders - I want to say over a million, but I've no idea if that's true or not. And most of them don't have tickets to games, of course, and what they get for their holding of stock is mostly unclear to me. Prestige? Maybe. I'm not sure if there's any dividend payback like "regular stock", but I don't think there is.
Anyway, in Australia, the teams have membership drives, and if you're a member of the footy club, you not only have the equivalent of season tickets (depending on how much you pay, I assume), but road game privileges as well (a certain number of seats are set aside for your opponent's members at games), team "swag", and voting rights for the team's budget and direction. You really ARE a member of the team.
Here's a report on the membership drives for each of the eighteen teams, but I'll write a quick synopsis of the numbers from 2014 so you can get a feel for what each team has for resources - because memberships equal money for an AFL club!
2014 AFL Membership numbers
1. Collingwood 80, 793
2. Hawthorn 68, 650
3. Richmond 66, 797
4. Essendon 60, 646
5. West Coast (Perth) 58, 529
6. Adelaide 57, 500
7. Port Adelaide 55, 508
8. Fremantle 48, 777
9. Carlton 47, 485
10. Geelong 43, 803
11. Sydney 40, 126
12. North Melbourne 39, 060
13. Melbourne 35, 911
14. Western Bulldogs 31, 814
15. St. Kilda 30, 138
16. Brisbane Lions 24, 032
17. Gold Coast 13, 480
18. Greater W. Sydney 13, 258
A couple of thoughts about this - the big Melbourne clubs sit in spots one through four, followed by the western four teams (Adelaide and Perth/Fremantle) in spots five through eight. The two newest teams are mired in last with just 13,ooo members each, which hampers how fast they can grow. Even as bad as the Demons have been, and as badly as their fans have deservedly treated them, their status as an original Melbourne club keeps them afloat with 35,000 members, while the two east coast teams (Brisbane and GC) together barely surpass that total despite both being significantly more successful.
Translation - Footy is still a Melbourne (state of Victoria) sport, no matter how enthusiastic the supporters in the other states are at times. The big money is going to be in Victoria.
Anyway, in Australia, the teams have membership drives, and if you're a member of the footy club, you not only have the equivalent of season tickets (depending on how much you pay, I assume), but road game privileges as well (a certain number of seats are set aside for your opponent's members at games), team "swag", and voting rights for the team's budget and direction. You really ARE a member of the team.
Here's a report on the membership drives for each of the eighteen teams, but I'll write a quick synopsis of the numbers from 2014 so you can get a feel for what each team has for resources - because memberships equal money for an AFL club!
2014 AFL Membership numbers
1. Collingwood 80, 793
2. Hawthorn 68, 650
3. Richmond 66, 797
4. Essendon 60, 646
5. West Coast (Perth) 58, 529
6. Adelaide 57, 500
7. Port Adelaide 55, 508
8. Fremantle 48, 777
9. Carlton 47, 485
10. Geelong 43, 803
11. Sydney 40, 126
12. North Melbourne 39, 060
13. Melbourne 35, 911
14. Western Bulldogs 31, 814
15. St. Kilda 30, 138
16. Brisbane Lions 24, 032
17. Gold Coast 13, 480
18. Greater W. Sydney 13, 258
A couple of thoughts about this - the big Melbourne clubs sit in spots one through four, followed by the western four teams (Adelaide and Perth/Fremantle) in spots five through eight. The two newest teams are mired in last with just 13,ooo members each, which hampers how fast they can grow. Even as bad as the Demons have been, and as badly as their fans have deservedly treated them, their status as an original Melbourne club keeps them afloat with 35,000 members, while the two east coast teams (Brisbane and GC) together barely surpass that total despite both being significantly more successful.
Translation - Footy is still a Melbourne (state of Victoria) sport, no matter how enthusiastic the supporters in the other states are at times. The big money is going to be in Victoria.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)