More members than Gabba seats: Brisbane Lions chairman Andrew Wellington weighs in as Olympic rebuild stalls
The Brisbane Lions could soon have more members than there are seats and their home ground, making the mooted Gabba redevelopment an urgent priority for the club’s attempts to continue growing in Queensland.
Brisbane Lions chairman Andrew Wellington says the club could soon outgrow its Gabba home with record membership and attendance numbers pointing to a not-too distant future in which a larger venue is required.
Speaking at the club’s season launch at Howard Smith Wharves on Tuesday, Wellington revealed the Lions were well on their way to surpassing 55,000 members off the back of roaring on-field success under coach Chris Fagan and strong backroom leadership.
“The good news is that as a club we are in fantastic shape.
We already have over 42,000 members and more than 85 per cent of our hospitality offerings for the season are sold,” Wellington said.
“We continue to target over 55,000 members for this year. It’s not so long ago these numbers were unthinkable.
“To give some context – in 2004 after the historic three-peat of premierships we had just over 30,000 members and that was the highest until 2021 when we reached 40,000. Since then we have continued to set record levels of membership each year.”
Roughly half of Brisbane’s home games last season were a sellout and Wellington prophesied more of the same this year and beyond with Fagan leading one of the most talented lists in the AFL to regular finals appearances.
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