Membership Tally 2023

[george_on_the_outer 7,590]

64,976 as of today.....now less than the same time last year!

[Deebauched 1,220]

Watch the membership number pivot and head south big time if we fall off the grid Sat night and rest of season.

Membership totals are BS anyway. My brother is a hawks supporter(even had his own box in the GS Stand some years back.) he bought memberships for most of his cousins who never go to the footy. I wouldnt doubt at all if he renews them yearly.  Thousands of people would do this especially for birthdays and christmas gifts. 

GWS and Suns memberships are laughable. Nothing is real any more. It doesnt matter no one cares.

[rpfc 28,384]

38 minutes ago, george_on_the_outer said:

64,976 as of today.....now less than the same time last year!

I think prospective members like points more than Inside 50s… 

#territorygame #kickitlongbutdontsingthesong

[dazzledavey36 54,861]

1 hour ago, george_on_the_outer said:

64,976 as of today.....now less than the same time last year!

That'll be our end of year goal kicking accuracy score.

 

 

 

*That's a joke everyone before you come at me with your pitchforks..*

[The heart beats true 18,123]

I see the club is still selling GF guarantee memberships.

Don’t be left out come September!

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,817]

Entertaining football sells memberships.

The casual arm chair supporter isn't going to take out a membership and subsequently attend our remaining home games if we're going to continue to kick 6 to 8 goals a game.

[58er 6,422]

17 hours ago, Deebauched said:

Watch the membership number pivot and head south big time if we fall off the grid Sat night and rest of season.

Membership totals are BS anyway. My brother is a hawks supporter(even had his own box in the GS Stand some years back.) he bought memberships for most of his cousins who never go to the footy. I wouldnt doubt at all if he renews them yearly.  Thousands of people would do this especially for birthdays and christmas gifts. 

GWS and Suns memberships are laughable. Nothing is real any more. It doesnt matter no more no one cares. 

17 hours ago, Deebauched said:

Watch the membership number pivot and head south big time if we fall off the grid Sat night and rest of season.

Membership totals are BS anyway. My brother is a hawks supporter(even had his own box in the GS Stand some years back.) he bought memberships for most of his cousins who never go to the footy. I wouldnt doubt at all if he renews them yearly.  Thousands of people would do this especially for birthdays and christmas gifts. 

GWS and Suns memberships are laughable. Nothing is real any more. It doesnt matter no one cares.

Please don't put every one else in the same category as you who doesn't care.  

[M_9 2,082]

On 7/7/2023 at 2:10 AM, Deebauched said:

....

Membership totals are BS anyway. My brother is a hawks supporter(even had his own box in the GS Stand some years back.) he bought memberships for most of his cousins who never go to the footy. I wouldnt doubt at all if he renews them yearly.  Thousands of people would do this especially for birthdays and christmas gifts. 

...

Brereton admitted some years ago to buying 19 memberships (ie it's his form of a donation).

Smorgon (from memory) started that practice at the Dogs back in the 90s. Instead of simply donating $10k buy 100 memberships.

I live on the Surfcoast. Four years ago the Geelong Advertiser gave a H&A Cats membership with every subscription. They may still do it.

Most clubs member nos are BS.

Edited July 8, 2023 by M_9

[58er 6,422]

36 minutes ago, M_9 said:

Brereton admitted some years ago to buying 19 memberships (ie it's his form of a donation).

Smorgon (from memory) started that practice at the Dogs back in the 90s. Instead of simply donating $10k buy 100 memberships.

I live on the Surfcoast. Four years ago the Geelong Advertiser gave a H&A Cats membership with every subscription. They may still do it.

Most clubs member nos are BS.

Well they don't change dramatically from top to bottom each year with dogs or other false forms so just let's not make a mountain out of a molehill or you will be agreeing with Demon Hawk and we can't have that on D/L. Can we? 

[Supreme_Demon 3,834]

We should get to 65,000 Melbourne Demons members.

Getting to 66,000+ might be a struggle.

Cost of living hasn't helped. Memberships are expensive!

I think unfortunately 70,000-75,000 members is beyond us unless we win another AFL Premiership or two.

Sustained success = membership growth!

[Hawk the Demon 988]

On 7/10/2023 at 3:36 PM, Supreme_Demon said:

We should get to 65,000 Melbourne Demons members.

Getting to 66,000+ might be a struggle.

Cost of living hasn't helped. Memberships are expensive!

I think unfortunately 70,000-75,000 members is beyond us unless we win another AFL Premiership or two.

Sustained success = membership growth!

Membership record 67,049 revealed by the Club today.

Now can we please have the breakdown?

Last year's 66,484 represented 59,700 members with 42,250 members aged over 18.

17,357 junior members included within the 67,049.

[poita 3,902]

I'm not sure why people get so worked up about membership numbers - it is the membership dollars that matter. We could buy our way to 70K members by giving away $10 memberships for the last three home games, but what does that really achieve?

My son gets a free 3 game St Kilda membership with his SMJFL fees each year. That is potentially several thousand kids included in St Kilda's membership numbers each year that neither barrack for St Kilda or contribute to the club. As an aside, they also gave him two free tickets to be used during the year, so we used those to attend Saturday's game for nothing. Thanks SKFC.

[Hawk the Demon 988]

3 minutes ago, poita said:

I'm not sure why people get so worked up about membership numbers - it is the membership dollars that matter. We could buy our way to 70K members by giving away $10 memberships for the last three home games, but what does that really achieve?

My son gets a free 3 game St Kilda membership with his SMJFL fees each year. That is potentially several thousand kids included in St Kilda's membership numbers each year that neither barrack for St Kilda or contribute to the club. As an aside, they also gave him two free tickets to be used during the year, so we used those to attend Saturday's game for nothing. Thanks SKFC.

I agree. It would be good if the Club let us know how membership revenue was tracking against the prior year. We get no financial updates from the Club other than when the annual financial statements come out. 

[Supreme_Demon 3,834]

25 minutes ago, Hawk the Demon said:

Membership record 67,049 revealed by the Club today.

Now can we please have the breakdown?

Last year's 66,484 represented 59,700 members with 42,250 members aged over 18.

17,357 junior members included within the 67,049.

67,049 members is a pleasant surprise!

I am pleased to be proven wrong! As I thought we would struggle.

The win against St. Kilda on Saturday night probably helped.

I have been a fanatical Melbourne Demons member since 1998 (obviously not as long as others) and to see us grow from barely having around 20,000 members to now getting close to 70,000 really is an amazing achievement that brings tears of joy to my eyes. Especially because of the hardships our Club has faced over the years during our 57 year Premiership drought.

As for a breakdown of membership numbers and the different categories. I think that is a question you need to ask the MFC membership department or in a few months time at the next MFC AGM.

Personally, I still think we will be unable to reach 70,000+ members this year. But as I previously said, if we continue to have sustained success then memberships will continue to grow.

Winning more Premierships is the key for the Melbourne Demons. We continue to do that and memberships will take care of themselves.

Everyone loves winners!

Edited July 12, 2023 by Supreme_Demon

[DeeZone 9,821]

67,049 is a very nice number, it is our best number to date and I am going to mentally celebrate that number as a part of the rise to relevance, as I have mentally celebrated every other achievements that our mighty club has garnered through our rise back to where we belong.!!!

[Longsufferingnomore 1,631]

46 minutes ago, Hawk the Demon said:

Membership record 67,049 revealed by the Club today.

Now can we please have the breakdown?

Last year's 66,484 represented 59,700 members with 42,250 members aged over 18.

17,357 junior members included within the 67,049.

Juniors and families make up the 17357

It is now 67050.  Just purchased another membership. 

[ElDiablo14 4,998]

I wonder how much the landscape among the kids has changed since 2016 - 2017 til now.

My guess is that now you see fewer Hawthorn, South Melbourne, Carlton and Essendon guernseys. Richmond must be a very popular and one can dream we are on the right track in developing the new supporter base.

[Rab D Nesbitt 8,367]

I know it's not necessarily the majority view on here but the only figure of any worth I'd be interested in is how many rusted on season ticket holders (10+ games) each club has on their books. Or at least seperate that number from the Mickey Mouse 3 game for $13 / 2 for 1 deal / free inside every happy meal / type 'memberships' every club fløg off to massage their end of year numbers.  

Edited July 12, 2023 by Rab D Nesbitt

[Timothy Reddan-A'Blew 5,118]

 

1 hour ago, Hawk the Demon said:

I agree. It would be good if the Club let us know how membership revenue was tracking against the prior year. We get no financial updates from the Club other than when the annual financial statements come out. 

The best I can find in the 2022 financial report is '$2.2M in membership and fundraising income...'. For 2022's 66k members ( 👏 for 2023 now, then! 😃 ) that's an average of about an 'armchair' membership ($60-ish) per member, if, say, half the $2.2M was membership. It would be $33 per membership if the $2.2M were all membership.

[chookrat 4,247]

1 hour ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

I know it's not necessarily the majority view on here but the only figure of any worth I'd be interested in is how many rusted on season ticket holders (10+ games) each club has on their books. Or at least seperate that number from the Mickey Mouse 3 game for $13 / 2 for 1 deal / free inside every happy meal / type 'memberships' every club fløg off to massage their end of year numbers.  

Rab D, I agree from a short term perspective but over the medium to longer term the most important figures become how many younger members we sign up, how many of these become rusted on supporters, how many of these rusted on supporters procreate, and how many of their offspring convert to members and supporters.

I'd also argue that Richmond, Collingwood, Essendon and Carlton have more supporters than us because the the cycle from birth to procreation is much shorter among their unwashed masses compared to us and therefore they have a higher effective reproduction rate.

[Rab D Nesbitt 8,367]

26 minutes ago, chookrat said:

Rab D, I agree from a short term perspective but over the medium to longer term the most important figures become how many younger members we sign up, how many of these become rusted on supporters, how many of these rusted on supporters procreate, and how many of their offspring convert to members and supporters.

I'd also argue that Richmond, Collingwood, Essendon and Carlton have more supporters than us because the the cycle from birth to procreation is much shorter among their unwashed masses compared to us and therefore they have a higher effective reproduction rate.

All good points chookrat. I just think that the use of the word 'membership' has become a nebulous term that ultimately cheapens it's use. By all means sell off three game reduced price game packages at the fåg end of a season when there's no risk of a sell out but they shouldn't be counted on any membership list. 

Edited July 12, 2023 by Rab D Nesbitt

[Pottsydee 153]

4 hours ago, ElDiablo14 said:

I wonder how much the landscape among the kids has changed since 2016 - 2017 til now.

My guess is that now you see fewer Hawthorn, South Melbourne, Carlton and Essendon guernseys. Richmond must be a very popular and one can dream we are on the right track in developing the new supporter base.

I live in South West Vic and at local jnr footy training 80% handbagers 10% Richmond with a few Collingwood jumpers mixed in. Sprinkle of Dees started to emerge since 21. 

[daisycutter 29,613]

67,122

[DeeZone 9,821]

Great result DC and still trickling along.!!!

[daisycutter 29,613]

1 hour ago, DeeZone said:

Great result DC and still trickling along.!!!

last year from this time on we got about another 1k.

so that should take us to 68+k.

as that is so close to 70k i wouldn't be surprised if they started a "special" campaign