http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/AFL/f ... 6263060620
Raiderdave will be devestatedSO FAR, so good for club membership sales in 2012, with figures holding up remarkably well despite the competing lure of watching all games live on TV.
According to the Herald Sun, more than 500,000 club memberships have been sold so far for the 2012, an increase of eight per cent of this time last year.
It is great news for the clubs in the face of an advertising blitz from Foxtel, which will screen every AFL game except for the Grand Final, live and uninterrupted this year.
Essendon chief executive Ian Robson said it was an encouraging outcome for the clubs.
"Clubs have become so much better at positioning their membership as not just a transactional relationship, but really as being the icing on the cake of a deep-rooted relationship that you have with your club that in many instances goes back generations," he said.
Foxtel's head of sport Peter Campbell said his company's research showed that club members who were also Foxtel subscribers were more likely to attend games.
"We want people to be engaged because then it's more likely they are going to become a Foxtel subscriber. It's not substitutable from our perspective," he said.
The boost in club memberships is particularly pleasing considering the tough economic times. And nor has the economic downturn had an effect on the fundraising efforts of those clubs in the middle of campaigns to eliminate their debt.
. A graph in the HS today showed the almost all the teams were up significantly. The Suns were only down 10% on last years figure for Feb. But the Lions are up around 50%!!! (9k to 13k)GWS were expected to steal lots of members off the Swans but the Swans are only slightly below (600) last year.
This is despite record TV coverage for this year's season. Things are continuing to look up for Australia's premier winter sport.
