The 2017 Membership Thread

[Chris 2,892]

On 2/15/2017 at 4:19 PM, Lucifer's Hero said:

Its a gimmick to raise member numbers. 

St Kilda offered $1.00 memberships for 'later' upgrade to full membership (at full cost).  Whether their members do or not doesn't matter; it makes their numbers look good.  Collingwood has massive members in the 'no game attendance' category.  Most clubs (including mfc) have a 'no game attendance' category.

AS so many AFL decisions on fixturing, venues, time slots, FTA etc are based on member numbers, clubs will do whatever they can to make numbers look good.  Also, high numbers are more attractive to sponsors, merchandising and marketing.

It will be interesting to see if we are targeting the new NT zone and Southern zone for memberships, especially the 'no game attendance' category.  Get them on board and work to upgrade them to game attendance/full members later.

No gimmicks from mfc, so fair to say our membership growth is based on committed new members.

Ahhhhhh, far any number of reasons I wasn't buying a membership last year, right up until the club offered a $1, 3 game membership if I joined up on the proviso that I continued at least a 3 game membership this year at full price. There was a fair chance I was going to re join this year anyway so i grabbed that and will get to 6 games of footy for about $100. 

Considering I struggle to get the time to get to the footy I may not use it all but the deal was too good to turn down. 

[Chris 2,892]

On 2/15/2017 at 4:38 PM, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Sigh. That's such a facile approach to decision making. I'd like to think the AFL could use more sophisticated methodology than that. And decisions shouldn't just be about numbers of supporters/members/eyeballs. Some decisions need to appreciate the need to provide equity in opportunity to allow the smaller/less supported clubs an opportunity to grow.

No no no no no no no! Not in Gill's world (or Andy D's for that matter). It is much much better to feed all the little clubs tiny crumbs pretending to keep them around but never really giving them the chance to get off the floor. 

[Lucifers Hero 40,509]

27 minutes ago, Chris said:

No no no no no no no! Not in Gill's world (or Andy D's for that matter). It is much much better to feed all the little clubs tiny crumbs pretending to keep them around but never really giving them the chance to get off the floor. 

Even with the little clubs there is a pecking order!  Last time I looked at 2016 StK wasn't that much better than us,  yet this year they have 4 Friday night games and 2 Sat night games and some Home games vs big Vic clubs so all good for their Revenue.  I daren't look at the favouritism given to Carlton and Essendon fixtures!!

We have 1 Fri night and no Sat night.  Meanwhile, Carlton and Essendon play more and more games at the MCG, often Home games vs big Vic clubs! 

The AFL mantra is 'win games get better fixutures etc'. Ha! I fear that even if we do consistently make the 8 we will still be fed breadcrumbs!!

Edited February 16, 2017 by Lucifer's Hero

[Sir Why You Little 37,296]

1 hour ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Even with the little clubs there is a pecking order!  Last time I looked at 2016 StK wasn't that much better than us,  yet this year they have 4 Friday night games and 2 Sat night games and some Home games vs big Vic clubs so all good for their Revenue.  I daren't look at the favouritism given to Carlton and Essendon fixtures!!

We have 1 Fri night and no Sat night.  Meanwhile, Carlton and Essendon play more and more games at the MCG, often Home games vs big Vic clubs! 

The AFL mantra is 'win games get better fixutures etc'. Ha! I fear that even if we do consistently make the 8 we will still be fed breadcrumbs!!

If we win games we will be looked after

i have no doubt about that. The AFL are a ruthless bunch, but they do know a strong Melbourne is useful, otherwise we would have not survived the past decade 

[daisycutter 29,891]

1 minute ago, Sir Why You Little said:

If we win games we will be looked after

i have no doubt about that. The AFL are a ruthless bunch, but they do know a strong Melbourne is useful, otherwise we would have not survived the past decade 

LOL

[Lucifers Hero 40,509]

1 minute ago, Sir Why You Little said:

If we win games we will be looked after

i have no doubt about that. The AFL are a ruthless bunch, but they do know a strong Melbourne is useful, otherwise we would have not survived the past decade 

That is unusually optimistic and trusting of you, Sir WYL

[Demon Disciple 12,452]

1 minute ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

That is unusually optimistic and trusting of you, Sir WYL

The excitement and anticipation towards the end of pre-season gets to us all

[Sir Why You Little 37,296]

26 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

That is unusually optimistic and trusting of you, Sir WYL

Have always thought that actually

our home ground holds 100,000 but for so long we haven't taken advantage of it. 

The last decade is hopefully when we did hit the bottom, the previous CEO proved that  

i have been a supporter and or member since 1971 and have always been gobsmacked by the fact that the MFC has allowed itself to be kicked around by anyone  

i think PJ and Roos have put a stop to that.

if we fail from here then it was never going to happen...

 

[CBDees 3,167]

On 15/02/2017 at 3:29 PM, CBDees said:

Since the women started winning, we have accelerated from 50/day to 100/day and are now 31,799. This is  5.5K up on membership numbers at the same time in 2015 and 3K on last year! 

If both our teams beat the Doggies next weekend, maybe we will ramp it up even further!

Go Dees! ?

32,137 which is 350 up on Wednesday. The excitement is building ahead of tomorrow's double headerr!

Edited February 17, 2017 by CBDees

[Stinga2 194]

Surely we will get another 8000.

[pineapple dee 2,892]

There are easily 8000 more people ready to commit. I will add 4 to the membership tally ( 5 if I add the cat ).  I will purchase 2 junior memberships for a couple of my younger students who are dees fans as well.

[DubDee 26,295]

from this timepoint last year we got 11,000 more members so we should beat that and almost pinch 45K

[La Dee-vina Comedia 17,009]

19 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Even with the little clubs there is a pecking order!  Last time I looked at 2016 StK wasn't that much better than us,  yet this year they have 4 Friday night games and 2 Sat night games and some Home games vs big Vic clubs so all good for their Revenue.  I daren't look at the favouritism given to Carlton and Essendon fixtures!!

We have 1 Fri night and no Sat night.  Meanwhile, Carlton and Essendon play more and more games at the MCG, often Home games vs big Vic clubs! 

The AFL mantra is 'win games get better fixutures etc'. Ha! I fear that even if we do consistently make the 8 we will still be fed breadcrumbs!!

I wonder whether St Kilda has a commercially better draw than us as compensation for the poor deal they apparently have at Etihad Stadium?

However, that does not excuse the AFL for continually gifting Carlton, Essendon and Richmond prime viewing slots over the last few years when their collective performances have not justified it instead of a more equitable sharing with teams such as the Bulldogs, North and us.

[Lucifers Hero 40,509]

2 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

I wonder whether St Kilda has a commercially better draw than us as compensation for the poor deal they apparently have at Etihad Stadium?

However, that does not excuse the AFL for continually gifting Carlton, Essendon and Richmond prime viewing slots over the last few years when their collective performances have not justified it instead of a more equitable sharing with teams such as the Bulldogs, North and us.

At the risk of you calling me out on my cynicism, Gil barracks for St Kilda!

Totally agree about gifting the 'Big Vic Clubs' prime slots etc, hence my earlier reference that I don't expect the AFL to honour their 'win games and get better fixtures etc' mantra, if we consistently make the 8.  The bulldogs had to win a flag to get anywhere close to what other clubs have been gifted.

[Bring-Back-Powell 15,240]

St Kilda have a commercially fantastic draw with 4 Friday night games as Gil barracks for them, which is on public record.

[Sir Why You Little 37,296]

42 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

At the risk of you calling me out on my cynicism, Gil barracks for St Kilda!

Totally agree about gifting the 'Big Vic Clubs' prime slots etc, hence my earlier reference that I don't expect the AFL to honour their 'win games and get better fixtures etc' mantra, if we consistently make the 8.  The bulldogs had to win a flag to get anywhere close to what other clubs have been gifted.

If we had won flags since 1964 The MFC would be in far better shape. 

But there is no doubt we are wanted otherwise there is no way PJ or Roos would have come our way

[PaulRB 6,432]

Interesting to see if those clubs with women's teams record greater membership growth than those without... and to what extent?

also has me wondering if affiliated netball teams (I.e the Pies have a netball team) has a positive membership effect.

[Dr. Gonzo 24,435]

On 16/02/2017 at 5:16 PM, Lucifer's Hero said:

Even with the little clubs there is a pecking order!  Last time I looked at 2016 StK wasn't that much better than us,  yet this year they have 4 Friday night games and 2 Sat night games and some Home games vs big Vic clubs so all good for their Revenue.  I daren't look at the favouritism given to Carlton and Essendon fixtures!!

We have 1 Fri night and no Sat night.

We have 1 Friday night 3 Saturday night plus ANZAC Eve and Queens Bday. Saints don't have any other locked in "marquee" games. 

[Sir Why You Little 37,296]

13 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

We have 1 Friday night 3 Saturday night plus ANZAC Eve and Queens Bday. Saints don't have any other locked in "marquee" games. 

Yep. We have done ok this year considering the previous decade where we were actually a liability to have on Television most of the time. 

[beelzebub 23,390]

Today i reckon, in the spirit of pivotal occasions, might be an 800 member day. Should both teams ( b&g) perform well , then the circus rolls on and momentum could see another 800 by the end of the week. We get knocked about and the bandwagon starts slowing up.

[Hellaintabadplacetobe 4,297]

47 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Today i reckon, in the spirit of pivotal occasions, might be an 800 member day. Should both teams ( b&g) perform well , then the circus rolls on and momentum could see another 800 by the end of the week. We get knocked about and the bandwagon starts slowing up.

Family Day at Luna Park tomorrow too, membership tent always gets smashed on this day so expect some good numbers through the week!

[daisycutter 29,891]

even if it was just a practice match, beating the premiership team can't do any harm to membership sales

[Willmoy1947 4,198]

Yep ,even if if we played the best throwing team in the AFL, and at their Dung heap!!!

[CBDees 3,167]

On 18/02/2017 at 7:03 PM, daisycutter said:

even if it was just a practice match, beating the premiership team can't do any harm to membership sales

Actually one win on Saturday was a 'practice match' against the remaining Premiers playing on their home ground but the other match (AFLWomans) was the main event, also played against last year's "Premiers" playing on their home ground (and we won both)!

[CBDees 3,167]

On 18/02/2017 at 3:20 PM, Hell Bent said:

Family Day at Luna Park tomorrow too, membership tent always gets smashed on this day so expect some good numbers through the week!

32279 (up 150 since the weekend) so not quite smashing it yet despite our two wins over the Premiers and the family day! Let's just keep the momentum up and keep selling the message!