Membership Tally 2023

[george_on_the_outer 6,992]

13 hours ago, chookrat said:

68-69k is a solid number and in terms of year on year % growth bodes well. I'd imagine that we have a core ~40-45k of rusted on supporters and the rest would mostly be new supporters we have picked up in the past 5 years. These new supporters should also help in converting new supporters in future years so these numbers should continue to increase at a steady pace over the next 5 years.

Absolutely right.  To get much beyond where we are now we need sustained success.  And that has to be over a long period. 

@Sir Why You Little is right when he notes we need to get the kids on board, and that means winning while they are in their formative years. 

We lost generations with our absence from Finals from 1965 to the mid 80's.  Then another 10 year gap to 2000's. Then another 10-15 year gap to 2018.  And during that overall period we won a single Premiership in 57 years! 

A few bright moments, but what kid wants to support a team, that just wasn't there in finals time for year after year after year. 

Collingwood have won only 2 Premierships in the past 63 years, but have appeared in finals year after year after year.  That's what keeps their fans turning up.  The end result might be disappointing for them, but they are engaged by the fact that their club is "always in it". 

We need the same sort of success.  But it takes years to translate support into memberships.  You might get the kids today, but they aren't able to pay for their memberships until they start working to earn money.  Could be 20 years time!

[daisycutter 28,598]

 

57,558

[FearTheBeard 868]

12 hours ago, Wodjathefirst said:

In simple terms, my take on all this is that there must be some correlation between number of members and club revenue. Therefore more the merrier - not really fussed how it is counted.

But my real interest is to see more of our fans (members or not) actually attend our games.

Adds to the atmosphere for starters and I can only think that it helps our players.  There is no doubt in my mind that in our last game against Collingwood, their supporters got them over the line.

So….. gear up your family and friends for the Anzac clash. And the King’ birthday clash will upon us sooner than you think. (If you are struggling to find demon friends then just get Collingwood haters to come along- plenty of those people around). 

Turning up to games (for those of us that can) and making some noise is about the most tangible way we can actually help our players on game day. GO DEES 

Couldn't agree more we have the same 25K that seem to go to games regardless of the membership size. I would suggest at least 15-25K of the members are on 3 or 6 game memberships. Surely these people would pick Anzac Eve and King's Birthday as the games to go to. Would be great to get 40K of us to both these games and get both games over 80K.

Also note that the price of reserved seats at Melbourne home games at the MCG is more expensive than all other clubs by around 10%. Our fanbase doesn't like to reserve seats so at big games they all end up on level 4 and the noise isn't as loud when we score. Potentially if they lowered the prices by more for our GA members they would be more willing to reserve seats.

[daisycutter 28,598]

16 minutes ago, FearTheBeard said:

Potentially if they lowered the prices by more for our GA members they would be more willing to reserve seats.

the problem is that all reserved seat options for home or home/away  members includes a mandatory gfg cost of around an additional $200 (for kids too), so a family of 4 is up for an extra $800 just for the gfg component.

so, it is quite a bit more than 10%. In fact for some memberships it is greater than the base membership itself.

[Bitter but optimistic 21,312]

3 hours ago, george_on_the_outer said:

Absolutely right.  To get much beyond where we are now we need sustained success.  And that has to be over a long period. 

@Sir Why You Little is right when he notes we need to get the kids on board, and that means winning while they are in their formative years. 

 

We need the same sort of success.  But it takes years to translate support into memberships.  You might get the kids today, but they aren't able to pay for their memberships until they start working to earn money.  Could be 20 years time!

This is a very good point George.

I have supported Melbourne since I was a toddler but it was neither practical nor financially possible for me to become a member until I was in my forties.

[FearTheBeard 868]

1 hour ago, daisycutter said:

the problem is that all reserved seat options for home or home/away  members includes a mandatory gfg cost of around an additional $200 (for kids too), so a family of 4 is up for an extra $800 just for the gfg component.

so, it is quite a bit more than 10%. In fact for some memberships it is greater than the base membership itself.

I'm more talking about people looking on ticketek at reserved seats for individual games rather than buying a reserved seat membership. I don't expect people to reserve seats for smaller games and I think its wrong to have any reserved seat areas when they expect less then 30K but that's for a different discussion. But for a game against richmond, it is $70 to reserve a level 1 wing seat (which is actually forward pocket M8-M11 or M54-M57) for this game whereas other clubs charge $60 for them. Same applies for all levels of seating.

I

[daisycutter 28,598]

10 minutes ago, FearTheBeard said:

I'm more talking about people looking on ticketek at reserved seats for individual games rather than buying a reserved seat membership. I don't expect people to reserve seats for smaller games and I think its wrong to have any reserved seat areas when they expect less then 30K but that's for a different discussion. But for a game against richmond, it is $70 to reserve a level 1 wing seat (which is actually forward pocket M8-M11 or M54-M57) for this game whereas other clubs charge $60 for them. Same applies for all levels of seating.

I

glad you clarified that. yes, i've noticed how expensive a reserved seat is for just a one-off game

[Longsufferingnomore 1,478]

16 hours ago, george_on_the_outer said:

Absolutely right.  To get much beyond where we are now we need sustained success.  And that has to be over a long period. 

@Sir Why You Little is right when he notes we need to get the kids on board, and that means winning while they are in their formative years. 

We lost generations with our absence from Finals from 1965 to the mid 80's.  Then another 10 year gap to 2000's. Then another 10-15 year gap to 2018.  And during that overall period we won a single Premiership in 57 years! 

A few bright moments, but what kid wants to support a team, that just wasn't there in finals time for year after year after year. 

Collingwood have won only 2 Premierships in the past 63 years, but have appeared in finals year after year after year.  That's what keeps their fans turning up.  The end result might be disappointing for them, but they are engaged by the fact that their club is "always in it". 

We need the same sort of success.  But it takes years to translate support into memberships.  You might get the kids today, but they aren't able to pay for their memberships until they start working to earn money.  Could be 20 years time!

The other problem we seem to have is engaging MCC Members financially. Look at our home games in the MCC and it is usually full of MFC barrackers but how many of them actually financially support the Club. It is difficult to convince MCC members to buy a dual membership when they can access all games through their MCC Membership.  If we could get some of those MCC Members to part with $89, our membership would be well over 60,000 now. I would have thought that this area of membership would have increased after winning the Premiership but it doesn't seem to have had any bounce back.

 

[D4Life 2,301]

6 hours ago, Longsufferingnomore said:

The other problem we seem to have is engaging MCC Members financially. Look at our home games in the MCC and it is usually full of MFC barrackers but how many of them actually financially support the Club. It is difficult to convince MCC members to buy a dual membership when they can access all games through their MCC Membership.  If we could get some of those MCC Members to part with $89, our membership would be well over 60,000 now. I would have thought that this area of membership would have increased after winning the Premiership but it doesn't seem to have had any bounce back.

 

I’m a dual member and do the same for my better half and 3 kids.

The wisdom of George is the trump card for me, sustained success is the key, get them on board as kids have decades of success and 20 years later hopefully they can become a financial member!

[TRIGON 4,719]

58,093...and counting

[58er 5,610]

On 4/6/2023 at 2:20 PM, FearTheBeard said:

I'm more talking about people looking on ticketek at reserved seats for individual games rather than buying a reserved seat membership. I don't expect people to reserve seats for smaller games and I think its wrong to have any reserved seat areas when they expect less then 30K but that's for a different discussion. But for a game against richmond, it is $70 to reserve a level 1 wing seat (which is actually forward pocket M8-M11 or M54-M57) for this game whereas other clubs charge $60 for them. Same applies for all levels of seating.

I

Thedifference though  is that a reserved seat for the season ALL the money goes the Club. Buying one off reserved seat for a particular game through Ticketek means very little to the Dees finances. I would imagine.

So Beard it's more complex for some than others. . 

[58er 5,610]

3 hours ago, TRIGON said:

58,093...and counting

Some Blockbuster Memberships I Presume.. 

[chookrat 3,776]

On 4/5/2023 at 9:21 PM, JimmyGadson said:

Our growth has been solid, but so has pretty much every other club's who have been a contender over a 4-5 year period.

The only way we'll break through that next barrier is by winning multiple flags over this period.

I'd love someone to compare our growth to that of all other contending teams over the last decade. I can't imagine our growth would be the highest.

Over time the AFL attracts more supporters given the population growth and therefor so do all clubs. And there's naturally a bump for a team when they're in a premiership window.

Don't mean to be a debbie downer but I don't think our numbers are as amazing as some suggest. Just the norm for a club who has won a flag and is still in contention.

As an example, St Kilda are at around 52,000 members, 5k less than us. And they've been bog ordinary for a while now.

And the big boys just keep getting bigger when they perform. Carlton mid 80k and Collingwood over 90k.

Generally, nothing has changed.

Jimmy, I think if we drill down into the total membership numbers the demographics play a more important role re our membership trajectory and also helps to explain why the big clubs get bigger while the smaller clubs struggle.

I suspect our membership growth over the past 7 -8 years is a combination of;

1. Lapsed members who came back, most of whom should have returned to the fold by the time of our 2018 prelim final.

2. New members who have joined since we have been in contention and following our 2021 premiership.

3. New babies and family of existing members.

In Year on Year % terms our growth looks really healthy which probably mostly points to 2 above which will ultimately translate into 3 above. Also I think in being able to convert new members that this in itself gains momentum if we are in contention year after year especially if we win more premiership.

I can see us hitting 70-80k members within the next 2 - 3 seasons especially if we win another premiership this year.

 

[FearTheBeard 868]

17 hours ago, 58er said:

Thedifference though  is that a reserved seat for the season ALL the money goes the Club. Buying one off reserved seat for a particular game through Ticketek means very little to the Dees finances. I would imagine.

So Beard it's more complex for some than others. . 

I am not arguing for people to buy reserved seats though? I am saying the club needs to give a greater incentive for people who dont want/cant afford the $550 for a demon seat plus membership to be able to buy more affordable reserved seats for bigger games. 4 level 1 wing reserved seats are nearly $300 with the service fee for our home games.

[Lou C. Fur 914]

I did a bit of research into the MFC membership numbers inspired by reading this thread and a request from @JimmyGadson

Jimmy asked for details on the last 10 years, but it is the last 5 years that has seen remarkable development in MFC membership numbers. Below is what I discovered:

By the end of 2022, Melbourne Football Club were the 8th largest AFL club by membership (66,484):

 In the past 5 years  Melbourne coped better than most clubs either side of and during CoVid. Most clubs suffered massive membership losses in 2020 (grey bars in the graph below). Melbourne suffered the 3rd biggest downturn in membership in 2020, but this was more than offset by the 3rd largest increase in membership during these 5 years:

During 2021 and 2022, Melbourne's bounced back and increased it's membership by more than any other club - no doubt spurred on by winning the premiership in 2021. That's right - Melbourne were the fastest growing club in terms of membership during this period with 25,913 new members signing up during this period. Collingwood and Carlton were the next fastest growing clubs during this 2 year period with figures of 23,522 and 21,741 respectively:

If Melbourne continues to grow it's membership at this rate, the 70K membership mark will soon be passed and the Dees will push towards a 6 figure membership to challenge  Richmond, Collingwood, West Coast who have already achieved that milestone.

In conclusion, Melbourne has been the fastest growing club in the AFL during 2021 and 2022. Another premiership by the Dees will no doubt further increase Melbourne Membership and place the Demons in a position to surpass even the biggest of the AFL clubs. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope this has been informative. All figures have been referenced from the tables below, the figures of which were found at the following sources:

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2022/09/05/all-18-afl-clubs-membership-tallies-for-2022-revealed/

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/west-coast-eagles/afl-membership-numbers-ladder-2021-afl-club-membership-by-team-club-records-west-coast-eagles-richmond/news-story/27b74f6e8e6225c5666c4a9e493891b0

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2019/08/06/afl-club-membership-numbers-for-2019-revealed/

https://www.afl.com.au/news/142385/afl-club-membership-heads-towards-a-million

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/454510/afl-announces-2015-membership-numbers

https://www.afl.com.au/stats/premiership-winners

https://web.archive.org/web/20121019233016/http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/146980/default.aspx

https://web.archive.org/web/20110825021430/http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/118901/default.aspx

https://resources.afl.com.au/afl/document/2019/12/05/0b3bf9a6-8f7d-4094-8591-d10f5babd3cf/afl_annual_report_2010_V2-min.pdf

https://resources.afl.com.au/afl/document/2019/12/05/0f1757b4-7638-44ae-8718-12326f215abc/afl_annual_report_2009-min.pdf

https://www.footyindustry.com/wiki/index.php?title=Club_Memberships

https://www.footyindustry.com/?page_id=228

https://www.footyindustry.com/?page_id=142692

https://s.afl.com.au/staticfile/AFL%20Tenant/AFL/Files/afl_annual_report_2005.pdf

[AzzKikA 2,371]

Lovely work @Lou C. Fur

[JimmyGadson 3,455]

Nice work @Lou C. Fur

I think the point that I was trying to make is that we're seeing a spike atm due to our success which is no different to any other club going through a phase of success. 

The money ticket will be winning a couple more flags within the next 3-5 years. Similar to what Hawthorn or Richmond went through. 

If you look at the Dogs, they won a single flag and had a spike the following year and years but their membership since then hasn't jumped exponentially. 

Only multiple/several flags within a 5-8 year period will achieve that. 

 

[FlashInThePan 1,893]

1 hour ago, JimmyGadson said:

I think the point that I was trying to make is that we're seeing a spike atm due to our success which is no different to any other club going through a phase of success. 

You keep saying this Jimmy, as though you think that the rest of us think that magic pixie dust is providing the additional memberships. Of course our new found success is driving the increase in membership. It seems to me that this is entirely self evident.

[JimmyGadson 3,455]

1 hour ago, FlashInThePan said:

You keep saying this Jimmy, as though you think that the rest of us think that magic pixie dust is providing the additional memberships. Of course our new found success is driving the increase in membership. It seems to me that this is entirely self evident.

I think some* do think that it's magical pixie dust, you're correct! 

[MT64 1,096]

On 4/7/2023 at 1:30 AM, Longsufferingnomore said:

The other problem we seem to have is engaging MCC Members financially. Look at our home games in the MCC and it is usually full of MFC barrackers but how many of them actually financially support the Club. It is difficult to convince MCC members to buy a dual membership when they can access all games through their MCC Membership.  If we could get some of those MCC Members to part with $89, our membership would be well over 60,000 now. I would have thought that this area of membership would have increased after winning the Premiership but it doesn't seem to have had any bounce back.

 

For more years that I can remember I have always had a dual membership (currently $89 which I treat as a donation to the club)and the past few years I also have taken out another MFC membership. This is my 65th year as a member. Many more to come.

[daisycutter 28,598]

 

58,385

[FearTheBeard 868]

Has anyone purchased a blockbuster membership and willing to share where on level 1 they are located? Imagine its M53 or M4? Richmond selling the blockbuster membership and they have Q15-Q12 for their seats.

 

[layzie 28,939]

Bring it on

[Lucifers Hero 37,152]

11 hours ago, FearTheBeard said:

Has anyone purchased a blockbuster membership and willing to share where on level 1 they are located? Imagine its M53 or M4?

According to mfc websiet:

Package Benefits:

• Reserved Level 1 Wing Seat for our Round 6 ANZAC Day Eve and Round 13 King's Birthday games

• 10% off full priced purchases in-store and online at the Demon Shop

• Access to exclusive offers from club partners

• Free entry to Casey Demons VFL and VFLW home games

• Option to receive a physical membership card if required

• Club Voting Rights (if over 18)

[george_on_the_outer 6,992]

58,934

Really slowing up now......only about 1,500 over last year.  At this rate we won't make 70K