2017 Membership count

[bloodsbigot]

http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/2017-03-06/history-in-the-making

We've hit 50k members. Same time last year 38k.

I'm really impressed.

[dimelb]

Great stuff!

[Aprilbr]

2017 Membership count

Yes the growth in our membership in the past few years has been amazing. I believe that the Seans are the largest member-based organisation of any type in NSW. If you had said to someone 20 years ago that the Swans would have more members than teams like Carlton and Geelong then they would have laughed at you yet that is now the case.


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[Joel Ridge]

What a brilliant result for the Swans.

I can also see GWS growing their membership in a huge way as they will probably secure 3 flags in the next 5 years.

I really feel that Rugby Union will fall in Sydney. It's only a few stubborn private schools (who have many AFL juniors players who play on different days) keeping Rugby Union drive alive.

Let's knock out Rugby Union in Sydney and then start chipping away at Soccer and League.

[Swansongster]

What a brilliant result for the Swans.

I can also see GWS growing their membership in a huge way as they will probably secure 3 flags in the next 5 years.

I really feel that Rugby Union will fall in Sydney. It's only a few stubborn private schools (who have many AFL juniors players who play on different days) keeping Rugby Union drive alive.

Let's knock out Rugby Union in Sydney and then start chipping away at Soccer and League.

Great result for the Swans. Seven memberships in my family.

I don't think rugby is going anywhere. Huge international audience and plenty of money because of it. Some great talent factories in NSW too but, agreed, it is currently sliding.

It's a tough one for the administrators of that code as they struggle with getting the balance right in regards to spending available funds on grass roots/development and retaining star players in the face of their huge potential earnings in Europe.

[707]

This is great news. I've got no doubt that Buddy has been one of the major drivers of this increase in membership. Regardless of what he delivers on field, his massive profile has added greatly to our stature in the NSW and national market. Worth every cent we are paying him and with the latest Salary Cap increases, he gets cheaper and cheaper!

[Mel_C]

I wouldn't be surprised if there is a big increase down here in Melbourne due to the extra games. Although I guess it depends on the price of membership.

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[Mug Punter]

Great result for the Swans. Seven memberships in my family.

I don't think rugby is going anywhere. Huge international audience and plenty of money because of it. Some great talent factories in NSW too but, agreed, it is currently sliding.

It's a tough one for the administrators of that code as they struggle with getting the balance right in regards to spending available funds on grass roots/development and retaining star players in the face of their huge potential earnings in Europe.

I can quite easily see Rugby becoming a niche sport in Australia.

AFL has rugby very much in its sights in Sydney I believe. The introduction of AFL into the Sydney private school system should not be under-estimated. Junior rugby is in crisis and clubland is a mess. Financially they don't have a pot to piss in and they are riddled with in fighting.

I think most Swans membership is from a middle to upper class background and there is such a potential for crossover from rugby which previously has that area as its heartland. There are junior clubs springing up everywhere at the moment, the northern beaches is a real hotspot right now, and I can only see the growth continuing

[Joel Ridge]

I can quite easily see Rugby becoming a niche sport in Australia.

AFL has rugby very much in its sights in Sydney I believe. The introduction of AFL into the Sydney private school system should not be under-estimated. Junior rugby is in crisis and clubland is a mess. Financially they don't have a pot to piss in and they are riddled with in fighting.

I think most Swans membership is from a middle to upper class background and there is such a potential for crossover from rugby which previously has that area as its heartland. There are junior clubs springing up everywhere at the moment, the northern beaches is a real hotspot right now, and I can only see the growth continuing

Great post. The Swans would have the concrete data, but I think you would be very correct on the middle to upper class Swans membership.

I'm excited for AFL in Sydney. AFL is strong in the East, Inner West, South, Northern Beaches, North Shore and parts of the North West.

The West needs a lot of work.

I look forward to seeing the face of AFL football in Sydney in 25 years. Will independent schools have a thriving AFL competition. Will you see a kid picked high in the draft out of Scots College, will the Swans have 85,000 members and the Giants 60,000. Will the Sydney AFL competition have junior clubs and senior clubs sprawling across the West like they do in the East.

[bloodsbigot]

This is great news. I've got no doubt that Buddy has been one of the major drivers of this increase in membership. Regardless of what he delivers on field, his massive profile has added greatly to our stature in the NSW and national market. Worth every cent we are paying him and with the latest Salary Cap increases, he gets cheaper and cheaper!

No doubt he drove it up in 2014 and our Grand Finals in 2014 and 2016 increased it too, now call me crazy, but does anyone else think that the addition of Heeney has something to do with the numbers getting higher in 2017? There's something about him that just seems really marketable to me. He's actually one of the best players I've seen at that age. He basically has no weaknesses and his white hair makes him really stand out (Ala Capper). Not to mention he seems to be quite comfortable in front of the camera. AND he's from deep inside NSW.

Also, I think we might be getting a Collingwood effect. Losing Grand Finals might be even better than winning it in terms of gaining supporters. Australia loves an underdog.

Now at 50,861.

[Mug Punter]

Great post. The Swans would have the concrete data, but I think you would be very correct on the middle to upper class Swans membership.

I'm excited for AFL in Sydney. AFL is strong in the East, Inner West, South, Northern Beaches, North Shore and parts of the North West.

The West needs a lot of work.

I look forward to seeing the face of AFL football in Sydney in 25 years. Will independent schools have a thriving AFL competition. Will you see a kid picked high in the draft out of Scots College, will the Swans have 85,000 members and the Giants 60,000. Will the Sydney AFL competition have junior clubs and senior clubs sprawling across the West like they do in the East.

I have been an outspoken critic on GWS on a number of issues, in particular the way they pay lip service to their development work in Sydney and some of the appalling decisions they have made to date. But I will say that they are I feel integral to the recent boom. Just having AFL on the radar week in week out in Sydney has taken the game to a new level.

I was sceptical of the "growing the pie" argument but I think we can see this happening. But GWS need to take the lead which is why the AFL need to force them asap to start looking after their patch by taking away the easy option of just cherrypicking from an established AFL region like Albury-Wodonga.

Ironically with the introduction of GWS I think the quickest wins have come from the Swans heartland because the academy system, which never would have been allowed without expansion, has really exploded in the Swans areas. Likewise the GPS schools, I don't know the stats but I bet that upwards of 80-85% of kids in GPS schools come from a Swans catchment area and will therefore be aligned to a Swans Academy team like Mosman or St Ives.

As to your question re kids being picked out of Scots in Sydney I see no reason why not, these schools' school sports programmes are akin to the US college system with their resources. To temper expectations though I do think it may take about 10 years for the GPS AFL to be an elite level junior comp but look out when it does.

I'll go on a limb. I can see the Swans having 100,000 members with the approx. 30,000 interstate and 50,000 being ticketholders. I can see there being a wait list for membership and us having a system like Arsenal and Man U where they only set aside 2,000-3,000 each match for the general public.

GWS I think will be a tougher nut to crack but they are showing some impressive signs of growth. You'd really hope they can get to 15,000 average crowds at Spotless for non derby matches. There's quite a bit if scope to increase the capacity of that ground if the need to but I'd say that would be 20 years off at least. Time will tell of course, GWS are the flavour of the month at the moment and they will have some huge success over the next few years, it will be how they cope with the lean years which I believe will determine their long term health because that sporting market is very very brutal and crowded

[Joel Ridge]

I have been an outspoken critic on GWS on a number of issues, in particular the way they pay lip service to their development work in Sydney and some of the appalling decisions they have made to date. But I will say that they are I feel integral to the recent boom. Just having AFL on the radar week in week out in Sydney has taken the game to a new level.

I was sceptical of the "growing the pie" argument but I think we can see this happening. But GWS need to take the lead which is why the AFL need to force them asap to start looking after their patch by taking away the easy option of just cherrypicking from an established AFL region like Albury-Wodonga.

Ironically with the introduction of GWS I think the quickest wins have come from the Swans heartland because the academy system, which never would have been allowed without expansion, has really exploded in the Swans areas. Likewise the GPS schools, I don't know the stats but I bet that upwards of 80-85% of kids in GPS schools come from a Swans catchment area and will therefore be aligned to a Swans Academy team like Mosman or St Ives.

As to your question re kids being picked out of Scots in Sydney I see no reason why not, these schools' school sports programmes are akin to the US college system with their resources. To temper expectations though I do think it may take about 10 years for the GPS AFL to be an elite level junior comp but look out when it does.

I'll go on a limb. I can see the Swans having 100,000 members with the approx. 30,000 interstate and 50,000 being ticketholders. I can see there being a wait list for membership and us having a system like Arsenal and Man U where they only set aside 2,000-3,000 each match for the general public.

GWS I think will be a tougher nut to crack but they are showing some impressive signs of growth. You'd really hope they can get to 15,000 average crowds at Spotless for non derby matches. There's quite a bit if scope to increase the capacity of that ground if the need to but I'd say that would be 20 years off at least. Time will tell of course, GWS are the flavour of the month at the moment and they will have some huge success over the next few years, it will be how they cope with the lean years which I believe will determine their long term health because that sporting market is very very brutal and crowded

Great post again Mug

Below is a recent article on AFL in Sydney Private Schools:

No Cookies | Daily Telegraph

The breaking of AFL into the Private School System is also aiding the Swans. Kids and parents from Private Schools like spending their time in trendy upmarket areas. Moore Park which is near Paddington, Darlinghurst and Surry Hills offers the Private School Community an entertainment experience for them to desire. They can go out to these trendy areas after being entertained by a Swans SCG game. The private school influence will grow the Swans membership base. I can't see may people in the Private School Community going to Spotless Stadium.

Has there ever been a point where the SCG capacity does not cater for all the Swans members who wanted to attend on a particular match. Average home crowds seem to be around the low 30,000 while some home and away matches push towards 40,000. This is still short of the SCG capacity of 46,000.

[Mug Punter]

Great post again Mug

Below is a recent article on AFL in Sydney Private Schools:

No Cookies | Daily Telegraph

The breaking of AFL into the Private School System is also aiding the Swans. Kids and parents from Private Schools like spending their time in trendy upmarket areas. Moore Park which is near Paddington, Darlinghurst and Surry Hills offers the Private School Community an entertainment experience for them to desire. They can go out to these trendy areas after being entertained by a Swans SCG game. The private school influence will grow the Swans membership base. I can't see may people in the Private School Community going to Spotless Stadium.

Has there ever been a point where the SCG capacity does not cater for all the Swans members who wanted to attend on a particular match. Average home crowds seem to be around the low 30,000 while some home and away matches push towards 40,000. This is still short of the SCG capacity of 46,000.

Fans not being able to get any ticket for a match, i.e a complete sell out, has been rare but if there increased membership numbers have a flowon to bums on seats at the SCG, as they should, then we may start to see some more regular sellouts.

I think a capacity of 46,000 is more than adequate for the medium to long term. If the SCG Trust were able to get their hands on some of that land behind the Bill O'Reilly then I could see a new stand there as having the potential to push capacity past 50,000 and there's not many teams in the world that average over that in a long season format (most NFL teams do but they only play 7 home matches a year).

The problem will be, of course, that when the construction is on the capacity will be reduced for 2-3 seasons and the d-heads at the SCG Trust always plan the construction to minimise the cricket season even though we are the major tenant. The same knobs that accepted a cricket pavilion design for the latest redevelopment that is totally impractical when the winter weather arrives. I was totally 100% behind to move to have all our games moved back to the SCG but if wee do have to deal with a 35,000 seat stadium for two seasons then we may well wish we still had ANZ as a fallback.

I think the next priority for a stater government handout will be the Brewongle, though I think that is a major renovation and not a complete re-build. It is looking tired but I'd do the BOR first and get the capacity up before taking one of the biggest stands out of action.

[Aprilbr]

2017 Membership count

The 46000 capacity includes the SCG Trust members area. Many of these members rarely go to the Swans games as they are mainly cricket fans. So the capacity as far as people who are not Trust members would be well below the 46000 number. Accordingly if our membership numbers do continue to grow then obtaining a walk up ticket on game day may become difficult especially against big drawing teams like Collingwood. Joining up as a Swans member will become critical in ensuring admittance. It could even one day end up like the WCE situation where there was a waiting list for membership to ensure admittance to the ground. For WCE supporters this will change with the new stadium currently being built.


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[Mug Punter]

The 46000 capacity includes the SCG Trust members area. Many of these members rarely go to the Swans games as they are mainly cricket fans. So the capacity as far as people who are not Trust members would be well below the 46000 number. Accordingly if our membership numbers do continue to grow then obtaining a walk up ticket on game day may become difficult especially against big drawing teams like Collingwood. Joining up as a Swans member will become critical in ensuring admittance. It could even one day end up like the WCE situation where there was a waiting list for membership to ensure admittance to the ground. For WCE supporters this will change with the new stadium currently being built.


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The only area in the SCG that is exclusively for members is the members stand which has quite a small capacity.

Both the Ladies Stand and the M.A Noble Stand, which are members only for the cricket, allow Swans Members in there. It is managed of course but those two areas are pretty well full to the brim on match day. Just guessing but I'd say it's about 50-50 SCG members and non members. But if SCG members did happen to start showing up en masse to games it would create an issue as it would force the SCG Trust to squeeze out the Swans members to allow the SCG members to use the facility.

I can well see a membership waiting list, possibly where they have 3, 6 and 12 game memberships and you work your way up the lists, I guess that would be one way to ensure people don't miss out completely, by having a lot of 3 match memberships. I do think it is important to also have some tickets on general sale for newcomers, tourists and the casual fans but clearly they will be also squeezed if the ST numbers increase. All in all a good problem to have I guess