27,488 members as of 12/03/2013?

[oh when the]

richmond has 10 flags

in 140 yrs we have 1

that's the difference in clubs

[clarky449]

We just arent a big club, who knows what 20 years in the future could be like. Hopefully we can do a Hawthorn. Membership has always been pretty bad. I do think we have alot of "Supporters", i just dont think they sign up as members. Potential is there, but need that extra exposure or something. Hopefully a new president will come in and have a known name.

[saintspremiers]

We just arent a big club, who knows what 20 years in the future could be like. Hopefully we can do a Hawthorn. Membership has always been pretty bad. I do think we have alot of "Supporters", i just dont think they sign up as members. Potential is there, but need that extra exposure or something. Hopefully a new president will come in and have a known name.

I wish you were right. Our supporters seem to lack the passion of the supporters of the big Melbourne based clubs. We aren't as tribal or loud. We certainly were back at Moorabbin but that was prob jut fueled by full strength beer more than anything else!

[Solar]

The whole docklands situation does not help. The club offered the social club members some very good deals at the start but because it's a lose making exercise (to pay it off in time to bve transfered as an asset to the AFL) these have been paired back. We are not a sexy club anymore and everyone has written us off for the next 3-5 years. A good start to the year is very important. Have a good year and 30k will be back in 2014

[Saints43]

We as a club need to to keep earning respect, and keep winning, and that's one way to boost membership. I still think the club is not marketing itself as well as it could. Clubs with strong memberships like Richmond, Geelong, Hawks to name a few, seem to be out there a lot more in public pushing memberships.

Admittedly I know as much about marketing as I do about football... but I don't really see what more we can do.
I see Nick Riewoldt and Lenny in the paper as much as I do Franklin and Matchell.
Having a knobhead like Kennett being a clown in the paper every five minutes surely doesn't sell memeberships.
I really think it comes down to a belief that your club will win you a flag at some stage. And I just think a lot of St Kilda fans have lost that hope.

When we lost to Port Round 1 last year a stranger who'd been watching the match said to us "And that's why I won't be a member this year". What can you say? That's the spirit?

[plugger66]

We as a club need to to keep earning respect, and keep winning, and that's one way to boost membership. I still think the club is not marketing itself as well as it could. Clubs with strong memberships like Richmond, Geelong, Hawks to name a few, seem to be out there a lot more in public pushing memberships.

Admittedly I know as much about marketing as I do about football... but I don't really see what more we can do.
I see Nick Riewoldt and Lenny in the paper as much as I do Franklin and Matchell.
Having a knobhead like Kennett being a clown in the paper every five minutes surely doesn't sell memeberships.
I really think it comes down to a belief that your club will win you a flag at some stage. And I just think a lot of St Kilda fans have lost that hope.

When we lost to Port Round 1 last year a stranger who'd been watching the match said to us "And that's why I won't be a member this year". What can you say? That's the spirit?

You may not like Kennet tand I could also guess McGuire but I reckon having them in the paper all the time would sell memberships. Mcguire is brilliant at marketing. Our president is brillant at, actually who is our president?

[gringo]

We as a club need to to keep earning respect, and keep winning, and that's one way to boost membership. I still think the club is not marketing itself as well as it could. Clubs with strong memberships like Richmond, Geelong, Hawks to name a few, seem to be out there a lot more in public pushing memberships.

Admittedly I know as much about marketing as I do about football... but I don't really see what more we can do.
I see Nick Riewoldt and Lenny in the paper as much as I do Franklin and Matchell.
Having a knobhead like Kennett being a clown in the paper every five minutes surely doesn't sell memeberships.
I really think it comes down to a belief that your club will win you a flag at some stage. And I just think a lot of St Kilda fans have lost that hope.

When we lost to Port Round 1 last year a stranger who'd been watching the match said to us "And that's why I won't be a member this year". What can you say? That's the spirit?

You may not like Kennet tand I could also guess McGuire but I reckon having them in the paper all the time would sell memberships. Mcguire is brilliant at marketing. Our president is brillant at, actually who is our president?

How do you cope with loving Kennett who is anti Demetriou? Kennett's natural negativity obviously appeals but your tendency toward obeying authority means you become sycophantic when the name Demetriou is mentioned. Like a cop who hero worships Ned Kelly. If Kennett sells memberships for his club Hawks supporters are a sad lot.

[plugger66]

Admittedly I know as much about marketing as I do about football... but I don't really see what more we can do.
I see Nick Riewoldt and Lenny in the paper as much as I do Franklin and Matchell.
Having a knobhead like Kennett being a clown in the paper every five minutes surely doesn't sell memeberships.
I really think it comes down to a belief that your club will win you a flag at some stage. And I just think a lot of St Kilda fans have lost that hope.

When we lost to Port Round 1 last year a stranger who'd been watching the match said to us "And that's why I won't be a member this year". What can you say? That's the spirit?

You may not like Kennet tand I could also guess McGuire but I reckon having them in the paper all the time would sell memberships. Mcguire is brilliant at marketing. Our president is brillant at, actually who is our president?

How do you cope with loving Kennett who is anti Demetriou? Kennett's natural negativity obviously appeals but your tendency toward obeying authority means you become sycophantic when the name Demetriou is mentioned. Like a cop who hero worships Ned Kelly. If Kennett sells memberships for his club Hawks supporters are a sad lot.

Unlike some here who work in black and white I actually like Kennett. You know it is possible to have different opinions about things but still like that person. Do all your friends vote the same way? I doubt it.

Why are they a sad lot if Kennett being in the news sells memberships. Dont see the correlation at all. Anyway I wish our supporters were sad lots and brought a membership even if it is a 3 gamer which works out to $2 a week. Please dont tell me people cant afford that however bad finances are going.

[Saints43]

You may not like Kennet tand I could also guess McGuire but I reckon having them in the paper all the time would sell memberships. Mcguire is brilliant at marketing. Our president is brillant at, actually who is our president?

I may not like Kennett. And I may like Kennett. You can guess about McGuire, I suppose. Knock yourself out.

How did Jeff Kennett sell memberships by be being in the paper all the time?

I believe Richmond have sold a lot of memberships. Is Gary March in the paper all the time or is he a brilliant marketer?

[plugger66]

You may not like Kennet tand I could also guess McGuire but I reckon having them in the paper all the time would sell memberships. Mcguire is brilliant at marketing. Our president is brillant at, actually who is our president?

I may not like Kennett. And I may like Kennett. You can guess about McGuire, I suppose. Knock yourself out.

How did Jeff Kennett sell memberships by be being in the paper all the time?

I believe Richmond have sold a lot of memberships. Is Gary March in the paper all the time or is he a brilliant marketer?

No Gary isnt in the paper a lot and Kennett isnt at the Hawks anymore. Richmond have on average always had a pretty good membership, the Hawks havent. Kennett when in chanrge created interest and I think if you were a Hawks supporter that would be great. We arent so most other supporters didnt like him. I have given one reason why the Hawks membership is so high. There are others like playing in Tassie but thats only 10k. I dont go along with the success of 20 years ago finally making a difference. Where is the spike in the North membership?

Whats your reason why their membership is so good? And why is ours so poor?

[Saints43]

You may not like Kennet tand I could also guess McGuire but I reckon having them in the paper all the time would sell memberships. Mcguire is brilliant at marketing. Our president is brillant at, actually who is our president?

I may not like Kennett. And I may like Kennett. You can guess about McGuire, I suppose. Knock yourself out.

How did Jeff Kennett sell memberships by be being in the paper all the time?

I believe Richmond have sold a lot of memberships. Is Gary March in the paper all the time or is he a brilliant marketer?

No Gary isnt in the paper a lot and Kennett isnt at the Hawks anymore. Richmond have on average always had a pretty good membership, the Hawks havent. Kennett when in chanrge created interest and I think if you were a Hawks supporter that would be great. We arent so most other supporters didnt like him. I have given one reason why the Hawks membership is so high. There are others like playing in Tassie but thats only 10k. I dont go along with the success of 20 years ago finally making a difference. Where is the spike in the North membership?

Whats your reason why their membership is so good? And why is ours so poor?

You said having Kennett in the paper all the time sold memberships. And that McGuire was a brilliant marketer.

Richmond have always had a good membership so Gary March doesn't need to do anything. Fair enough.

As I said in my first post - I don't know anything about marketing. That's why I was asking someone who obviously does. So, once again, How did Jeff Kennett sell memberships by being in the paper all the time?

[plugger66]

I may not like Kennett. And I may like Kennett. You can guess about McGuire, I suppose. Knock yourself out.

How did Jeff Kennett sell memberships by be being in the paper all the time?

I believe Richmond have sold a lot of memberships. Is Gary March in the paper all the time or is he a brilliant marketer?

No Gary isnt in the paper a lot and Kennett isnt at the Hawks anymore. Richmond have on average always had a pretty good membership, the Hawks havent. Kennett when in chanrge created interest and I think if you were a Hawks supporter that would be great. We arent so most other supporters didnt like him. I have given one reason why the Hawks membership is so high. There are others like playing in Tassie but thats only 10k. I dont go along with the success of 20 years ago finally making a difference. Where is the spike in the North membership?

Whats your reason why their membership is so good? And why is ours so poor?

You said having Kennett in the paper all the time sold memberships. And that McGuire was a brilliant marketer.

As I said in my first post - I don't know anything about marketing. That's why I was asking someone who obviously does. So, once again, How did Jeff Kennett sell memberships by be being in the paper all the time?

And as I said he creates interest amongst Hawks supporters. And that interest may help sell memberships. Just like when he said we will never lose to geelong again and they havent beaten Geelong since. It is still publicity and it was a positive statement from their president. I dont know a great deal about marketing but most publicity is usually good for the club. When we had publicity 2 and 3 years ago it was just straight out bad publicity.

Anyway Im more worried about our membership and it is people like us who need to get off our arse and join the club. I am going to join this year which will be the first time in 19 years. I am going to get a 3 game membership. I hope you do as well.

[wolfpup]

+ 4 members, sorry been a busy summer!

[Saints43]

And as I said he creates interest amongst Hawks supporters. And that interest may help sell memberships.

Anyway Im more worried about our membership and it is people like us who need to get off our arse and join the club. I am going to join this year which will be the first time in 19 years. I am going to get a 3 game membership. I hope you do as well.

Alright then, It may help sell memberships. Not quite does sell memberships. But this site is no place to quibble over a small thing like that.

I'm sure you've been a member for many years as have I. Like you I treat any money I give to the club as a donation to an organisation that I enjoy supporting.

Unfortunately we have fans who want 'bang for their buck' which we don't have a great history of supplying. And, as I said in my first post, I don't know how we can get the fans who seem to have given up hope in the club to dig into their pockets year upon year win, lose or draw.

Maybe if Greg Westaway would act more like a media whore and say stupid stuff and wear stupid jackets we may sell more memberships?

[bergholt]

I still haven't bought mine. I can't go to the first few games so there's no hurry for me, will buy it eventually though.

Got a message from StKildaFC today saying:

"Look out for you 2013 membership card in the mail. Call 1300467246 to renew and activate your card in time for the season. Loyalty Unites Us!"

I reckon that's a good idea - send out my card, and then all I have to is pay and it works straight away. Smart marketing, I don't know if every club is doing it but it's good.

[SainterK]

Instead of guessing, why don't we ask?

Anyone willing to say why they didn't renew?

Don't attack honesty though, everyone has a free will.

Reckon the could promote the under 4 memberships harder, superb value. Advertise at retirement villages as potential grandkid pressie

[plugger66]

And as I said he creates interest amongst Hawks supporters. And that interest may help sell memberships.

Anyway Im more worried about our membership and it is people like us who need to get off our arse and join the club. I am going to join this year which will be the first time in 19 years. I am going to get a 3 game membership. I hope you do as well.

Alright then, It may help sell memberships. Not quite does sell memberships. But this site is no place to quibble over a small thing like that.

I'm sure you've been a member for many years as have I. Like you I treat any money I give to the club as a donation to an organisation that I enjoy supporting.

Unfortunately we have fans who want 'bang for their buck' which we don't have a great history of supplying. And, as I said in my first post, I don't know how we can get the fans who seem to have given up hope in the club to dig into their pockets year upon year win, lose or draw.

Maybe if Greg Westaway would act more like a media whore and say stupid stuff and wear stupid jackets we may sell more memberships?

Maybe it would. It wouldnt hurt if it helps our club in the long run. I dont care what anyone says but having an unknown and hardly heard president certainly doesnt help. I would love a chart of memberships of all clubs over the last 10 years. I will go so far to say percentage wise our membership would have increased less than any other Victorian club. I really worry that we will be close to the bottom of all Victorian clubs this year and the worse part is our club has enjoyed the most successful period in 140 years, apart from the flag, and we are probably on our way down. What the hell is our membership going to be if we happen to finish in the bottom few for a couple of years? We really do have some pretty fickle supporters as all clubs do but ours seem worse than most clubs.

[SainterK]

I still haven't bought mine. I can't go to the first few games so there's no hurry for me, will buy it eventually though.

Got a message from StKildaFC today saying:

"Look out for you 2013 membership card in the mail. Call 1300467246 to renew and activate your card in time for the season. Loyalty Unites Us!"

I reckon that's a good idea - send out my card, and then all I have to is pay and it works straight away. Smart marketing, I don't know if every club is doing it but it's good.

I do like that idea

[andrewg]

Our draw for home game sux
Wellington + MCG home games sux

Simple value for money problem, main reason we don't get reserved seats anymore

[Saints43]

I wonder if the clubs with stronger membership bases have a higher percentage of auto roll-over payees? Taking smaller increments more often requiring an opt-out is the way to go I would reckon. Eases the financial blow of a big payout once a year and preys on disorganisation. Is that something Saints push?

[plugger66]

Our draw for home game sux
Wellington + MCG home games sux

Simple value for money problem, main reason we don't get reserved seats anymore

This is what I dont get. I get the part of not getting reserved seats but I dont get why people want value for money in a membership. It is basically a donation bet you still get to see 11 home games for about $180. That is great value. Actually ridiculously great value. And big deal that we have to travel to the G. Easier to park at the G and for people on the SE side of town where most support comes from it is better for public transport and its a great ground. The Wellington game has been replaced so that doesnt have any bearing anyway.

[The OtherThommo]

Just as important as the headline number of members is the revenue per membership. I don't know how those figures stand these days but I do recall them from a few years ago. Back then some of the clubs with the biggest memberships had very low revenue per member figures. Collingwood have made an art form out of low revenue membership deals. Hawthorn did do the same, but I'm not sure of how it stands these days. They both managed to create a desire to belong well above the lesser profile clubs.
The key to us financially is to make NZ work and get a resolution to the revenue drain from the Etihad deal. If we consider that the outcome from games at the G is estimated to be >$2M p.a. better compared to the Etihad deal for the same crowds, that translates into an awful lot of members.
That's why the clubs getting screwed at Etihad will be happy if the AFL just equalise the deals at the G and Etihad, rather than playing into the hands of Eddie and his elites' line, about taking from the rich clubs to prop up the poor, and let them create an illusion of being the better "entrepreneurs".
The truth is the AFL has a product - it doesn't have a number of products. The product is the competition, not the clubs. The major source of revenue is the TV rights and they are sold on the basis of all 18 clubs as 1 product. The AFL recognises this by various equalisation measures (draft, salary cap). Those measures have been effective, as evidenced by the spread of contenders and winners since the early 90's. Now they need to embrace the concept and spread it to the other facets of the competition's success, like stadium deals. Why should they be so unequal, when the strains they exert put at risk components of their product, and then have to hand out money to keep clubs competitive?
A properly equalised basis of the game's revenue would allow all the clubs to compete for individual members on their merits, not to have to concentrate on having members compensate for crappy deals on where they play. Memberships could be sold in competitive deals (e.g. cheaper, if you want to boost your numbers), if some clubs didn't have to rely on memberships to stay afloat because of dud treatment in elements like where you play.
If memberships remain the headline way for clubs to provide the illusion of financial success, the real issues won't get addressed, and Eddie and his band of elites will get to keep pleading they're hard done by, and propping up the stragglers. And, that's just disingenuous crap.

[andrewg]

Our draw for home game sux
Wellington + MCG home games sux

Simple value for money problem, main reason we don't get reserved seats anymore

This is what I dont get. I get the part of not getting reserved seats but I dont get why people want value for money in a membership. It is basically a donation bet you still get to see 11 home games for about $180. That is great value. Actually ridiculously great value. And big deal that we have to travel to the G. Easier to park at the G and for people on the SE side of town where most support comes from it is better for public transport and its a great ground. The Wellington game has been replaced so that doesnt have any bearing anyway.

I agree don't get me wrong we have and will always get memberships, but I just don't feel like the club has been that great with membership marketing and been that 'creative' with boosting our membership numbers.

But we should definitely get 35,000 + anything less would be disappointing

[andrewg]

Just as important as the headline number of members is the revenue per membership. I don't know how those figures stand these days but I do recall them from a few years ago. Back then some of the clubs with the biggest memberships had very low revenue per member figures. Collingwood have made an art form out of low revenue membership deals. Hawthorn did do the same, but I'm not sure of how it stands these days. They both managed to create a desire to belong well above the lesser profile clubs.
The key to us financially is to make NZ work and get a resolution to the revenue drain from the Etihad deal. If we consider that the outcome from games at the G is estimated to be >$2M p.a. better compared to the Etihad deal for the same crowds, that translates into an awful lot of members.
That's why the clubs getting screwed at Etihad will be happy if the AFL just equalise the deals at the G and Etihad, rather than playing into the hands of Eddie and his elites' line, about taking from the rich clubs to prop up the poor, and let them create an illusion of being the better "entrepreneurs".
The truth is the AFL has a product - it doesn't have a number of products. The product is the competition, not the clubs. The major source of revenue is the TV rights and they are sold on the basis of all 18 clubs as 1 product. The AFL recognises this by various equalisation measures (draft, salary cap). Those measures have been effective, as evidenced by the spread of contenders and winners since the early 90's. Now they need to embrace the concept and spread it to the other facets of the competition's success, like stadium deals. Why should they be so unequal, when the strains they exert put at risk components of their product, and then have to hand out money to keep clubs competitive?
A properly equalised basis of the game's revenue would allow all the clubs to compete for individual members on their merits, not to have to concentrate on having members compensate for crappy deals on where they play. Memberships could be sold in competitive deals (e.g. cheaper, if you want to boost your numbers), if some clubs didn't have to rely on memberships to stay afloat because of dud treatment in elements like where you play.
If memberships remain the headline way for clubs to provide the illusion of financial success, the real issues won't get addressed, and Eddie and his band of elites will get to keep pleading they're hard done by, and propping up the stragglers. And, that's just disingenuous crap.

This is what I mean by increasing membership numbers 'creatively'

[saintspremiers]

Our draw for home game sux
Wellington + MCG home games sux

Simple value for money problem, main reason we don't get reserved seats anymore

Agree. I was considering dumping reserved seats for that same reason but didn't.

plugger and I have something in common. We like Kennett!

Now plugs, the fact you post on here 2.3 million times a day but haven't been a member is a shocker.

Please take out an 11 game membership if for nothing else as a donation. I'm sure you could afford it, it's only about $20 per month!