Talking Footy

Research shows Swans have more than one million fans
Malcolm Conn
The Daily Telegraph
August 01, 201212:00AM

MOVE over Collingwood, the Swans are the most popular football club in Australia.

Often ignored or underrated in Melbourne's AFL maelstrom, the AFL regards the Swans as one of the pivotal clubs in the national competition.

AFL acting chief executive Gill McLachlan pointed to Roy Morgan research which highlighted the Swans as the only club with more than one million supporters.

"They're incredibly important to our code," McLachlan told The Daily Telegraph.

"They're a flag bearer in the biggest city in Australia and they still have a huge role with South Melbourne and Bloods supporters.

"They're regarded as a seriously good football club which have recognition and credibility Australia wide.

"They're one of the most iconic football clubs in Australia given their history and given what they represent in the future.

"They straddle the divide from where we've come from (suburban league) and where were going (truly national competition)."

The Swans may have left the Lake Oval 30 years ago but they now have significantly more paid up members in Melbourne than they did during those dark days.

The club's broad national profile also makes the it one of the most attractive corporate vehicles in the country, with branding on the jumper and shorts believed to be worth a million dollars each.

This has been enhanced by its sustained run of success.

Having missed the finals just three times in the past 16 years, the Swans are a game clear on top of the ladder just five weeks from September.

However, McLachlan believes the Swans are now so entrenched in Sydney they do not need constant success to maintain their supporter base.

"The Swans are a serious franchise now," he said.

"They're one of the biggest clubs in Australia.

"They've got a group of supporters and members who are there regardless of where they are on the ladder.

"The Swans are beyond having to be near the top all the time."

But McLachlan conceded that the next step was for the Swans to convert their broad support into paid-up members.

"Of the nine million people who say they follow Australian Rules football, the Swans have more than a million people who identified being supporters," McLachlan said.

"The challenge is that they may be supporters of the Swans, it's how deeply connected and how deeply engaged are they.

"Collingwood has a similar number of supporters but given their history and tradition, a larger percentage are deeply engaged and go every week."

This was reinforced by Swans chairman Richard Colless.

"With clubs like Collingwood, who have smaller numbers of supporters, you would find a higher level of fanaticism **** their numbers," he said.

"We're really pleased with the number of people who are familiar with us and regard us highly.

"The problem is we're in transition from people being interested to people being fanatical.

"We do very well comparatively with corporate sponsorship but if you compare us with Collingwood and West Coast in regard to membership and corporate hospitality, you find the gap is something like $10 million."

The Swans have about 30,000 members compared to Collingwood's 70,000 and West Coast's 50,000.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 6439739561

Beaussie wrote:

Woo hoo, go Swans :P

Research shows Swans have more than one million fans
Malcolm Conn
The Daily Telegraph
August 01, 201212:00AM

MOVE over Collingwood, the Swans are the most popular football club in Australia.

Often ignored or underrated in Melbourne's AFL maelstrom, the AFL regards the Swans as one of the pivotal clubs in the national competition.

AFL acting chief executive Gill McLachlan pointed to Roy Morgan research which highlighted the Swans as the only club with more than one million supporters.

"They're incredibly important to our code," McLachlan told The Daily Telegraph.

"They're a flag bearer in the biggest city in Australia and they still have a huge role with South Melbourne and Bloods supporters.

"They're regarded as a seriously good football club which have recognition and credibility Australia wide.

"They're one of the most iconic football clubs in Australia given their history and given what they represent in the future.

"They straddle the divide from where we've come from (suburban league) and where were going (truly national competition)."

The Swans may have left the Lake Oval 30 years ago but they now have significantly more paid up members in Melbourne than they did during those dark days.

The club's broad national profile also makes the it one of the most attractive corporate vehicles in the country, with branding on the jumper and shorts believed to be worth a million dollars each.

This has been enhanced by its sustained run of success.

Having missed the finals just three times in the past 16 years, the Swans are a game clear on top of the ladder just five weeks from September.

However, McLachlan believes the Swans are now so entrenched in Sydney they do not need constant success to maintain their supporter base.

"The Swans are a serious franchise now," he said.

"They're one of the biggest clubs in Australia.

"They've got a group of supporters and members who are there regardless of where they are on the ladder.

"The Swans are beyond having to be near the top all the time."

But McLachlan conceded that the next step was for the Swans to convert their broad support into paid-up members.

"Of the nine million people who say they follow Australian Rules football, the Swans have more than a million people who identified being supporters," McLachlan said.

"The challenge is that they may be supporters of the Swans, it's how deeply connected and how deeply engaged are they.

"Collingwood has a similar number of supporters but given their history and tradition, a larger percentage are deeply engaged and go every week."

This was reinforced by Swans chairman Richard Colless.

"With clubs like Collingwood, who have smaller numbers of supporters, you would find a higher level of fanaticism **** their numbers," he said.

"We're really pleased with the number of people who are familiar with us and regard us highly.

"The problem is we're in transition from people being interested to people being fanatical.

"We do very well comparatively with corporate sponsorship but if you compare us with Collingwood and West Coast in regard to membership and corporate hospitality, you find the gap is something like $10 million."

The Swans have about 30,000 members compared to Collingwood's 70,000 and West Coast's 50,000.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 6439739561

TLPG wrote:

Hey idiot, it makes sense! Most of the AFL supporters in New South Wales would be Swans fans, and what's the most populated state in the country? New South Wales.

Get a brain, Eel.

The Collingwood Football Club has the largest fanbase in the AFL. In 2011 the club had 71,271 paid members, the largest ever membership total in AFL history. They are only paid members, the total number of Collingwood supporters in the country would be in the tens of millions .

TLPG wrote:

Hey idiot, it makes sense! Most of the AFL supporters in New South Wales would be Swans fans, and what's the most populated state in the country? New South Wales.

Get a brain, Eel.

The Collingwood Football Club has the largest fanbase in the AFL. In 2011 the club had 71,271 paid members, the largest ever membership total in AFL history. They are only paid members, the total number of Collingwood supporters in the country would be in the tens of millions .

But the truth, it seems, has finally come out. Collingwood is not the most popular club after all - not in this world, not in Australia and not in Melbourne. According to a recently released Roy Morgan poll, the Magpies are not even the most popular team on Swan Street.

Yes, that's right, the Melbourne Storm, which next year will move its home games from Olympic Park, which is beside Collingwood's Lexus Centre, a couple hundred metres down the road into the new rectangular stadium nearing completion, rated more fans (826,000) than did the Magpies in an identical Roy Morgan poll released earlier this year. Collingwood, said the poll, had just 731,000 fans. In fact, Brisbane Broncos were crowned the most popular club by the survey, with their 1. 1,259,000 fans eclipsing the Sydney Swans' 2. 1,217,000 (registered in the earlier poll, which relegated Collingwood to third place behind the Swans and Brisbane Lions).

TLPG wrote:

No, you don't understand the way sporting support works. Give up now while you're behind - or go back to school and re-learn common sense.

eelofwest wrote:

Beaussie wrote:

Woo hoo, go Swans :P

Research shows Swans have more than one million fans
Malcolm Conn
The Daily Telegraph
August 01, 201212:00AM

MOVE over Collingwood, the Swans are the most popular football club in Australia.

Often ignored or underrated in Melbourne's AFL maelstrom, the AFL regards the Swans as one of the pivotal clubs in the national competition.

AFL acting chief executive Gill McLachlan pointed to Roy Morgan research which highlighted the Swans as the only club with more than one million supporters.

"They're incredibly important to our code," McLachlan told The Daily Telegraph.

"They're a flag bearer in the biggest city in Australia and they still have a huge role with South Melbourne and Bloods supporters.

"They're regarded as a seriously good football club which have recognition and credibility Australia wide.

"They're one of the most iconic football clubs in Australia given their history and given what they represent in the future.

"They straddle the divide from where we've come from (suburban league) and where were going (truly national competition)."

The Swans may have left the Lake Oval 30 years ago but they now have significantly more paid up members in Melbourne than they did during those dark days.

The club's broad national profile also makes the it one of the most attractive corporate vehicles in the country, with branding on the jumper and shorts believed to be worth a million dollars each.

This has been enhanced by its sustained run of success.

Having missed the finals just three times in the past 16 years, the Swans are a game clear on top of the ladder just five weeks from September.

However, McLachlan believes the Swans are now so entrenched in Sydney they do not need constant success to maintain their supporter base.

"The Swans are a serious franchise now," he said.

"They're one of the biggest clubs in Australia.

"They've got a group of supporters and members who are there regardless of where they are on the ladder.

"The Swans are beyond having to be near the top all the time."

But McLachlan conceded that the next step was for the Swans to convert their broad support into paid-up members.

"Of the nine million people who say they follow Australian Rules football, the Swans have more than a million people who identified being supporters," McLachlan said.

"The challenge is that they may be supporters of the Swans, it's how deeply connected and how deeply engaged are they.

"Collingwood has a similar number of supporters but given their history and tradition, a larger percentage are deeply engaged and go every week."

This was reinforced by Swans chairman Richard Colless.

"With clubs like Collingwood, who have smaller numbers of supporters, you would find a higher level of fanaticism **** their numbers," he said.

"We're really pleased with the number of people who are familiar with us and regard us highly.

"The problem is we're in transition from people being interested to people being fanatical.

"We do very well comparatively with corporate sponsorship but if you compare us with Collingwood and West Coast in regard to membership and corporate hospitality, you find the gap is something like $10 million."

The Swans have about 30,000 members compared to Collingwood's 70,000 and West Coast's 50,000.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 6439739561

Wow getting desperate ic.......

Pies do you really think these Swans have more fans than your Collingwood? Didn't think so.

Yes the Swans made a small gain of like 150k last year, collingwood made what 70million last year if i am not mistaken?

Yeah your showing your ignorance in posting this thread...

pussycat wrote:

Reseach also showed AFL had over 2000 junior clubs in Sydney. But who was doing the research?