The New Sponsors

[Deefiant 427]

They're the figures from the 2011 Financial Report as far as I can gather - I think the $40M may be our projected revenue for 2012?

http://app1.mailout....837892_0682.pdf

Just having a look at that report - it looks like our "Revenue" is $33.5M and we have "other income" as $6.7M (which I think is the acquisition of the Bentleigh Club?) This is also why we had the biggest profit in the league ($6M) - without the acquisition of this asset we would have made a $700K loss going by those figures (page 11).

If I remember correctly we paid around 3 mil for the bentleigh club. This would without the acquisition we would still have made a profit as the increase in profit would only effectively be 3.7 instead of the 6.7mil you stated

[Dr. Gonzo 22,585]

If I remember correctly we paid around 3 mil for the bentleigh club. This would without the acquisition we would still have made a profit as the increase in profit would only effectively be 3.7 instead of the 6.7mil you stated

The report states our positive cash flow for 2011 was just over $600K so it seems you are right, we still would have had a profit but it would have been minimal.

[praha 10,329]

Somebody else posted this table on supporter numbers a few months back . Whilst it's not exact it does you a bit of an idea of what our club is up against . Numbers for Sydney and Brisbane could be ignored for obvious reasons .

Even if you just took the Victorian clubs numbers , the results aren't good .

http://www.roymorgan...t-supporte.aspx

Cheers

But a team like Sydney has the entire state, and bangwagoners with stars in their eyes that love the city.

With Melbourne, 99% of the supporter base is in Melbourne. If you get them to the games, you're on the same level, attendance wise. But in terms of membership and supporter growth, it's awful, and I don't understand why this wasn't addressed sooner.

So, how do we address it? Take hold of the CITY OF MELBOURNE, make it the clubs base, plaster it everywhere, get tourists, immigrants, everyone on the club's side. Why don't we have a shop in the CBD? Having an ad on trams through Bourke Street Mall is cool, but what if people don't support the AFL?

[Guest Thomo]

Reach is a good sponsor. I'm happy with it .

Reach is not a sponsor.

[Macca 16,173]

But a team like Sydney has the entire state, and bangwagoners with stars in their eyes that love the city.

With Melbourne, 99% of the supporter base is in Melbourne. If you get them to the games, you're on the same level, attendance wise. But in terms of membership and supporter growth, it's awful, and I don't understand why this wasn't addressed sooner.

So, how do we address it? Take hold of the CITY OF MELBOURNE, make it the clubs base, plaster it everywhere, get tourists, immigrants, everyone on the club's side. Why don't we have a shop in the CBD? Having an ad on trams through Bourke Street Mall is cool, but what if people don't support the AFL?

Yeah Cudi , as I've stated in a couple of other posts it's tough going . I reckon we punch above our weight and we are reputed to turn a bigger percentage of our fans into members than any other club .

It's also possibly that we have a bigger percentage of affluent members than a lot of other clubs . Quality membership over quantity of membership ?

I'm sure our Club is addressing the issue . Save for giving out free junior memberships and using our name to it's best advantage I really think we need some sort of on field success .

What's encouraging is that our membership has increased quite well in the last 5 years and we wiped out our debt a couple/few years ago despite being really poor on the field .

We really need to embrace that whole Casey area . Make that our area if that's at all possible . It's worth a try as it's a huge growth corridor .

I reckon a lot of the stuff you've suggested is worth a go . Often you have to spend money to make money .

I've often thought that the biggest advantage that the VFL/AFL had or has over other sports is that they make it really cheap for the kids to go to the footy . And the kids need their parents to take them . It's a great strategy and one that our club could well employ .

Cheers

Edited March 27, 2012 by Macca

[Biffen 12,422]

I don't like to bag the club administrative side too much because their work has been good since Jim took over .

I agree that we need some new ideas ,like targeting immigrant populations as future fans .

Finding Demons merchandise is difficult at best -whether this is a deliberate strategy by the club to avoid paying the AFL too big a cut or not I dont know .

The strategy to increase our fan base seems to be to achieve on field success-which is good .

Winning games and selling merch would be the best thing we can do short term .

Long term ,the Chinese experiment should be pursued .As with the Irish who are flooding the country right now .

[McQueen 17,864]

Schwabby still comfortable with the status quo.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/space-race-still-going-for-dees-saints/story-e6frf9jf-1226310735190

[olisik 4,060]

Some people may think this sounds silly but i think the MFC should actually target international students to try get a fan base.

Firstly alot of then actually live in 'Melbourne' in the city where they study, so obviously if they began to follow the code, this would be the team for them.

Secondly, alot of them stay in Melbourne once they graduate.

Thirdly, there all young so will be around for along time

Fourthly, a heap are from china, so if they do go back to China it would only help the MFC's push to get a fanbase over there.

I see thousands of international students in the city everyday and cant imagine other clubs having targeted this market.

The days of trying to attract supports from Junior football are numbered and a new approach is needed i think.

[The Chazz 4,077]

Some people may think this sounds silly but i think the MFC should actually target international students to try get a fan base.

Firstly alot of then actually live in 'Melbourne' in the city where they study, so obviously if they began to follow the code, this would be the team for them.

Secondly, alot of them stay in Melbourne once they graduate.

Thirdly, there all young so will be around for along time

Fourthly, a heap are from china, so if they do go back to China it would only help the MFC's push to get a fanbase over there.

I see thousands of international students in the city everyday and cant imagine other clubs having targeted this market.

The days of trying to attract supports from Junior football are numbered and a new approach is needed i think.

Didn't they try that a couple of years ago with Indian students? Was definitely international put it that way.

The idea of a Demon shop in the CBD is great, and again, I think we discussed that in the past. However, probably would've been a pretty empty shop this year consdiering they aren't selling jumpers.

Even when you go to New York, one of the biggest cities in the world, you walk past clothing/sports shops, and you always see Yankees and Knicks gear everywhere. As many say, we own something that no oter team can capitalise on, that is that we are Melbourne, but the issue is that we're not capitalising on it ourselves. We are not the Casey Demons. Does anyone know how we are actually evaluating the success of the Casey relationship? All I hear is that it's a growh corridor and that we are doing some important things out there. I don't go out there, but is there a noticable sea of red and blue impact? Are the kids in the schools out there barracking for the Demons?

[olisik 4,060]

I dont mean to be racist or anything but I am in my 20s and have alot of friends from different cultures and i do notice that the asian community seem to enjoy football culture alot more then the Indian culture who seem to lack interest in it.

As a matter of fact one of my mates plays for a senior team thats made up on 90% asian players who won the premiership in the SNFL last year.

I think it is a real good market to push with alot of supporter potential and with this type of interest from the market, it could be used to sway chinese companies to sponsor the club if they know that alot of chinese australians support the demons.

There are night clubs in the city which market to this which attracts thousands of international students per weekend. If night clubs can market to them why cant a football club?

Edited March 28, 2012 by olisik

[BarrassHarrass 25]

We gave Chinese students free tickets to a game last season. Also a select number of Chinese students were give MFC scarves that had chinese writing on them. I work at Melbourne University and one of my students came to class with one.

[The Chazz 4,077]

I dont mean to be racist or anything but I am in my 20s and have alot of friends from different cultures and i do notice that the asian community seem to enjoy football culture alot more then the Indian culture who seem to lack interest in it.

As a matter of fact one of my mates plays for a senior team thats made up on 90% asian players who won the premiership in the SNFL last year.

I think it is a real good market to push with alot of supporter potential and with this type of interest from the market, it could be used to sway chinese companies to sponsor the club if they know that alot of chinese australians support the demons.

There are night clubs in the city which market to this which attracts thousands of international students per weekend. If night clubs can market to them why cant a football club?

Mate, this is the best link I could find - http://www.melbournefc.com.au/tabid/7415/default.aspx?newsid=121645

Shows that they were expecting 1500 international students from Latrobe Uni on that day.

The important thing is to throw it open to ALL international students, especially considering I beleive the Indian student population is greater than the Asian one. I could be wrong on this, but I know it would be fairly close. And given the way they, the Indians, celebrate their own national sporting achievements, it would be great to get that sort of atmosphere at a MFC game.

Round 19 this year is a Melb v Gold Coast game at the G on a Sunday. We would be budgeting on getting around 25k to the game, it would be great to get another 10k or so of international students from across Victoria, not just Latrobe. Not sure how the club would feel about giving 10,000 tickets away for nothing! But it is something that if we want to establish a market with such students, that we need to do on a regular basis (at least once a season), and promote it.

[Dr. Gonzo 22,585]

I have thought this for a long time and spoken about it on here or 'Ology previously - it really is a no-brainer to at least have a go at it. Teams like Collingwood, Carlton, Richmond and Essendon all built their massive supporter bases off the back of European immigration in the 50's, 60's & 70's so I see no reason why we couldn't do the same today. Give free tickets out to them more than once a year to have them keep coming back or have more opportunities to come back. Any time we play a non Vic team at home there should be free tickets available to international students in the city. I'm pretty sure we did this R5, 2010 against Brisbane and it was our biggest ever crowd against them (although still only about 35K it was a step in the right direction.)

There's no need to limit this to any ethnic communities either, target all of them. If we get some from one group and some from another, who cares, it doesn't have to be exclusive to one ethnic group.

The Casey thing I'm not so sure about, yeah it's a growth corridor but who is living there? I don't live out that way and never go there but I'd think it is more likely to be suburban anglo's or at least people who have been living here for a couple of generations already - they are more likely to already have an allegiance to a specific club and are unlikely to change just because Melbourne trains down the road, particularly if we are rubbish which we have been. If Collingwood began training where I lived when I was a kid I don't think it would have made much of a difference to the kids who lived around the area. in fact I was in the old Collingwood zone and we used to have them come out training etc sometimes and it didn't make me want to barrack for them.

The idea of a Demon Shop in the city, while nice, is pretty impractical. It would cost a mint in rent alone and I couldn't really see us making too much money back off it. How depressing would it be to walk in there and the place is a ghost town in the middle of a packed city. Maybe though we could have stalls set up at the uni open days and try and target the international students there with free tickets, scarves, coffee etc Would be way cheaper than opening up a shop with limited target market in an expensive real estate.

[The Chazz 4,077]

...

The idea of a Demon Shop in the city, while nice, is pretty impractical. It would cost a mint in rent alone and I couldn't really see us making too much money back off it. How depressing would it be to walk in there and the place is a ghost town in the middle of a packed city. Maybe though we could have stalls set up at the uni open days and try and target the international students there with free tickets, scarves, coffee etc Would be way cheaper than opening up a shop with limited target market in an expensive real estate.

A couple of good ideas there Gonz. While I understand wha tyou are saying about the rent costs for a shop in teh CBD, it is more about advertising our brand/getting our brand out there. It would be more considered as marketing rather than trying to generate revenue from merchandise sales. If placed in the right spot - someone would have a better idea than me as I have been out of the CBD loop for a while now, it create great exposure, especially for tourists. I would imagine a place like Federation Square, somewhere that is close to public transport and other major attractions, would be a good start.

I also have said previously that the location of the current Demon Shop is terrible. Only Melbourne supporters would go there. I'd be trying to get an area of space, somewhere around where people start/finish the MCG tours.

What's more embarrassing - having a shop with no customers in it, or having a shop fully of customers that can't buy the current seasons footy jumper?

[olisik 4,060]

I have thought this for a long time and spoken about it on here or 'Ology previously - it really is a no-brainer to at least have a go at it. Teams like Collingwood, Carlton, Richmond and Essendon all built their massive supporter bases off the back of European immigration in the 50's, 60's & 70's so I see no reason why we couldn't do the same today. Give free tickets out to them more than once a year to have them keep coming back or have more opportunities to come back. Any time we play a non Vic team at home there should be free tickets available to international students in the city. I'm pretty sure we did this R5, 2010 against Brisbane and it was our biggest ever crowd against them (although still only about 35K it was a step in the right direction.)

There's no need to limit this to any ethnic communities either, target all of them. If we get some from one group and some from another, who cares, it doesn't have to be exclusive to one ethnic group.

The Casey thing I'm not so sure about, yeah it's a growth corridor but who is living there? I don't live out that way and never go there but I'd think it is more likely to be suburban anglo's or at least people who have been living here for a couple of generations already - they are more likely to already have an allegiance to a specific club and are unlikely to change just because Melbourne trains down the road, particularly if we are rubbish which we have been. If Collingwood began training where I lived when I was a kid I don't think it would have made much of a difference to the kids who lived around the area. in fact I was in the old Collingwood zone and we used to have them come out training etc sometimes and it didn't make me want to barrack for them.

The idea of a Demon Shop in the city, while nice, is pretty impractical. It would cost a mint in rent alone and I couldn't really see us making too much money back off it. How depressing would it be to walk in there and the place is a ghost town in the middle of a packed city. Maybe though we could have stalls set up at the uni open days and try and target the international students there with free tickets, scarves, coffee etc Would be way cheaper than opening up a shop with limited target market in an expensive real estate.

I think even the AFL would support this type of marketing as it would be growing the game to new supporters. And I agree, if richmond or Collingwood started training at the park down the street to my house, it wouldn't make me support them. Also alot of supports just follow whats already in the family or the suburb they grew up in.

Young students who live in Melbourne and currently support no team even though they live a stones throw away from the MCG and Etihad should be the biggest marketing target to gain support, not family days for existing supporters or shops that most people dont even think twice about as they stroll past.

A few free tickets and you'll have some of these students with Jack Trengove or Jack Watts T shirts. If i was in another country and i could take a stroll down to watch them play there national sport with a free ticket i would be there in heartbeat.

[BarrassHarrass 25]

A couple of good ideas there Gonz. While I understand wha tyou are saying about the rent costs for a shop in teh CBD, it is more about advertising our brand/getting our brand out there. It would be more considered as marketing rather than trying to generate revenue from merchandise sales. If placed in the right spot - someone would have a better idea than me as I have been out of the CBD loop for a while now, it create great exposure, especially for tourists. I would imagine a place like Federation Square, somewhere that is close to public transport and other major attractions, would be a good start.

I also have said previously that the location of the current Demon Shop is terrible. Only Melbourne supporters would go there. I'd be trying to get an area of space, somewhere around where people start/finish the MCG tours.

What's more embarrassing - having a shop with no customers in it, or having a shop fully of customers that can't buy the current seasons footy jumper?

Thie point you make about marketing is very true and correct. RipCurl have a shop on chapel street which loses heaps and heaps of money. However, Chapel St is teh most visited street in teh city and therefore they use the store as an advertisement for the label. The Demon shop thing would be much the same.

[Bossdog 2,002]

I have never been the the Demon's shop due to it's location. I believe that it would be better to locate it to a more accessable location.

[rpfc 27,631]

Re: Demon Shop Location

We should pressure the MCC to let us have a shop on the city side of of the MCG on the Ground level. Other than that, no dice. Waste of money to have it anywhere else. And with internet shopping becoming more and more popular, as long as you have an accessible website, you have accessible merchandise.

Re: Casey

We are trying to steal the kids. We are, and should remain, going to schools and doing clinics and giving away free tickets and being in their faces. If we get good we will give them a reason to follow the 'local' team that has come good. This is a long game. It's the right move.

Re: International Students

Good idea to focus on them and I hope the club is more grass roots on this. When multicultural day rolls around at Monash/Melboune/La Trobe give out free tickets, get in the ear of the Monash?Melbourne China Associations and give out 'Chinese language' flyers and merchandise that builds a tie to the brand. They are proud to study and live in Melbourne, let them be proud to follow Melbourne.

[Jesse Christ 2,884]

Are you forwarding these suggestions to the club RP, or just sharing on Demonland?

And Bossdog, how is gate C at the G inaccessible? Park on the side street before it and walk 100 metres across the field lazy.

[Bossdog 2,002]

Are you forwarding these suggestions to the club RP, or just sharing on Demonland?

And Bossdog, how is gate C at the G inaccessible? Park on the side street before it and walk 100 metres across the field lazy.

100 metres is like a 100 miles for me Think before you speak.

[IWAP 168]

Its also open on gameday (at least for day games).

The MCC give us a great deal on rent, and because of that, our shop is one of the more profitable ones out there (even though i'm sure other clubs turn over much more merchandise).

[olisik 4,060]

Re: Demon Shop Location

We should pressure the MCC to let us have a shop on the city side of of the MCG on the Ground level. Other than that, no dice. Waste of money to have it anywhere else. And with internet shopping becoming more and more popular, as long as you have an accessible website, you have accessible merchandise.

Re: Casey

We are trying to steal the kids. We are, and should remain, going to schools and doing clinics and giving away free tickets and being in their faces. If we get good we will give them a reason to follow the 'local' team that has come good. This is a long game. It's the right move.

Re: International Students

Good idea to focus on them and I hope the club is more grass roots on this. When multicultural day rolls around at Monash/Melboune/La Trobe give out free tickets, get in the ear of the Monash?Melbourne China Associations and give out 'Chinese language' flyers and merchandise that builds a tie to the brand. They are proud to study and live in Melbourne, let them be proud to follow Melbourne.

Dont forget alot of the international students are cashed up to there heads and rich families. Wouldn't be surprised if many of there parants had business back in China/Malaysia/Singapore ect. Imagine the potential for sponsorships if they dragged there folks along to a game when they came to visit.

[The Chazz 4,077]

Re: Demon Shop Location

We should pressure the MCC to let us have a shop on the city side of of the MCG on the Ground level. Other than that, no dice. Waste of money to have it anywhere else. And with internet shopping becoming more and more popular, as long as you have an accessible website, you have accessible merchandise...

RP, I'm not sure I totally agree re the online ability to access merchandise. The reason I'd like to see something in the CBD is more for brand awareness than merchandise sales. It's about any new Melbournian or any visitors/tourists that come to Melbourne, know exactly who Melbourne is. Same as my thoughts on a Demon Shop/outlet being near the MCG tour stuff. The market I'm targeting is those that will buy on impulse, for example, that tourist/visitor who has just been on the MCG tour, learnt about the MFC's history, and on their way out can buy a Melbourne shirt/jumper/whatever.

That market won't be the ones that get on the website and buy merchandise.

[dpositive 1,557]

RP, I'm not sure I totally agree re the online ability to access merchandise. The reason I'd like to see something in the CBD is more for brand awareness than merchandise sales. It's about any new Melbournian or any visitors/tourists that come to Melbourne, know exactly who Melbourne is. Same as my thoughts on a Demon Shop/outlet being near the MCG tour stuff. The market I'm targeting is those that will buy on impulse, for example, that tourist/visitor who has just been on the MCG tour, learnt about the MFC's history, and on their way out can buy a Melbourne shirt/jumper/whatever.

That market won't be the ones that get on the website and buy merchandise.

I totally agree with this.

We are Melburne and should leverage off that fact.

The Melbourne Grand Prix is another promotional advantage that we have over other sides.

[Jesse Christ 2,884]

Why would a visitor or tourist buy Melbourne merchandise? They have no tie to the city let alone the club. It shouldn't matter where we sell our merchandise in this day and age accessing the merch isn't the problem. Although I do agree that a shop at the end of the MCG tour would be a good idea. At the empire state building they make you exit through a merchandise shop and there's no escaping all the tacky stuff they offer there.