Saints games in 2015

[noddy04]

We pay exactly the same as you people with 11game memberships and get to see 2 games unless we fly/drive/run/walk or ride ahorse to Melbourne 9 other times. Pull your heads in you whingers

[plugger66]

Why does the pies membership continue to go up and ours drop?

Because they are on prime time TV all the time.

Can I ask a serious question? Why would a Friday night game make you buy a membership more than a Sunday day game?

Like I said before, it's not about the fans that have been following the club since before they could talk like myself… it's about potential new fans and members… more of which come when they see a team on the tellie every single week.

Why has Collingwoods membership gone from 32,000 to 72,000 in the past 12 years? They played in back to back grand finals back then so it can't be team success.

Exposure is everything, that's why advertising cost so much more in prime time to say… Sunday afternoon.

Alright you say that about the pies but answer this if it is being a free TV all the time and the best time slots that makes clubs big. I would say in 2009 we had a much bigger membership than the Tigers. I would say between 09 and 11 we had many more Friday night games than them, Less Sunday arvo games than them and more free TV than them. I would say by 2012 they had more members than us. That doesn't make sense based on what you are saying. They still continue to grow membership where they are now double ours and even though they now have improved timelots from 2012 to 2014 it still wouldn't be as good as ours from from 2009 to 2011. Our membership and other clubs is not effected by fixtures. Lets face it every club finds fault in their fixture. When we were good we had many 6 day breaks because we also had many Friday night games after having sunday and Saturday games. Our fixture will get better in certain aspects when we improve but it will get worse in others. For example the good this fixture is we play a few bottom sides twice. The bad is the interstate trips. When our memberships drops again next year I would be looking at this years performance and not next years fixture.

[saintbrat]

Still not good for victorian membership,
1/3 of the season out of the state , + the 4 late sunday games
When we are doing them a favour by being the International trailblazers- thanks we'll just make you a pseudo interstate team

[saintbrat]

On the positive
No Thur or Mon


But will be interesting to see how much VFL coaches will be able to get to

[matrix]

more members than port??
lol
in 2009 and 10 maybe
port have gone gangbusters in the membership dept
even people who were at my work who are full on armchair supporters have got off their asses and bought smaller type memberships

port will make us look alike a vfl side in member numbers

and while i think the draw sucks for some of you guys and girls over in melb due to kids and time slots
just remember what noddy said
people interstate pay $150 $500 and sometimes more to see the saints once in their home state, twice if they are lucky (like we have been for the last couple of years with 2 games in sa) year sure it includes up to 5 games in melb ( with interstate membership) but its a good $500 plus to get over and back
some interstate members on here buy melb memberships AND social club on top and are lucky to see 3 to 5 games

if you can get along to support them at the ground all the better
if not at least you are buying SOME form of membership and trying to catch the boys on the telly

[Solar]

matrix,

I live in geelong and work weekends so I can only get to say 2-3 games a year so the fixture really does not effect me. But I can see the financial killer of this draw. Just need to keep afloat till our onfield results turn around. Even then it does not seem to matter as the big clubs always get the big time slots..... very Australia like, rich get richer.

[stinger]

sunday afternoon games stop a lot of our interstate supporters from attending...can't get a flight home.....

[samuraisaint]

more members than port??
lol
in 2009 and 10 maybe
port have gone gangbusters in the membership dept
even people who were at my work who are full on armchair supporters have got off their asses and bought smaller type memberships

port will make us look alike a vfl side in member numbers

and while i think the draw sucks for some of you guys and girls over in melb due to kids and time slots
just remember what noddy said
people interstate pay $150 $500 and sometimes more to see the saints once in their home state, twice if they are lucky (like we have been for the last couple of years with 2 games in sa) year sure it includes up to 5 games in melb ( with interstate membership) but its a good $500 plus to get over and back
some interstate members on here buy melb memberships AND social club on top and are lucky to see 3 to 5 games

if you can get along to support them at the ground all the better
if not at least you are buying SOME form of membership and trying to catch the boys on the telly

re:port mem numbers - and 2011 and 12 too. We'll be back. Dunstan, Billings, Acres, Eli, Petracca, and the next bunch will get the supporters up and about again. Port have some really exciting young players, and are similar to us in 2004. We need to have patience. and supporters need to support, not whinge about the fixture. Go to games or we will go the way of Fitzroy and South Melbourne. Don't be apathetic or make excuses.

[remboy]

The main problem I see with the draw is that we only have two home games in Victoria in the first seven rounds. That's not going to help us sell memberships or merchandise.
The bagpipe girl is going to struggle too.

[darylcowie]

I have a 3-game membership and have done since 2010 after I realised that night/twilight games were so awkward to attend, limiting me to only 6 games that year.

I don't go to night games at all due to work commitments now, which leaves me with only one home game to attend this season in Round 1 vs GWS at 1:00 on Easter Sunday.

Oh hang on, I will be away for the long weekend!

Oh hang on, I can easily make it to the Anzac Day clash, because it starts at 11am.

Oh hang on, the game is being played in another country!

I can't keep hanging on forever, I think it's time to start following the VFL when we have our own team.

[Wrote for Luck]

If the fixtures aren't family friendly then the footy has to come second. Family always comes first. It's up to the club to look after its supporters, not for supporters to turn up like mugs on a deserted Sunday night with young children out of fear the club will die. Otherwise it is a little selfish. If that's the case it's a competition you would rather not be in.

[darylcowie]

do we still have the 3 game membership thingy?
that might help some people this year that cant get to many games

that way you can downgrade the membership you are on now to a 3 or 5 gamer and not lose your continuity of membership in years

Yep, that's another reason I do it too, in fact the only reason now, given this fan-unfriendly draw!

[dragit]

Alright you say that about the pies but answer this if it is being a free TV all the time and the best time slots that makes clubs big. I would say in 2009 we had a much bigger membership than the Tigers. I would say between 09 and 11 we had many more Friday night games than them, Less Sunday arvo games than them and more free TV than them. I would say by 2012 they had more members than us. That doesn't make sense based on what you are saying. They still continue to grow membership where they are now double ours and even though they now have improved timelots from 2012 to 2014 it still wouldn't be as good as ours from from 2009 to 2011. Our membership and other clubs is not effected by fixtures. Lets face it every club finds fault in their fixture. When we were good we had many 6 day breaks because we also had many Friday night games after having sunday and Saturday games. Our fixture will get better in certain aspects when we improve but it will get worse in others. For example the good this fixture is we play a few bottom sides twice. The bad is the interstate trips. When our memberships drops again next year I would be looking at this years performance and not next years fixture.

There will always be a disparity between the big clubs and the smaller clubs… however the current system of fixturing the big ones against each other in prime time and having the minnows play sunday afternoons just exacerbates the problem.

There are many angles to the draw each year, ease of opponents, amount of travel, fan accessibility, but the biggest impact on clubs finances is exposure and drawing opponents with big fan bases.

If the biggest 3 or 4 clubs share 75 % of the prime time slots and always play each other twice, then they become bigger and richer. If the poorest 3 or 4 don't get any TV coverage and draw other lowly teams twice each year then they can't get sponsors, new members and they'll never catch up financially. Getting a handout each year is pathetic in comparison to the revenue from a favourable draw.

[citywest]

Good to be f***ed over 2015 and perhaps 2016 season.

We don't have a hope of getting close to the finals either year so we then have currency with the AFL when we are in a position to start the climb up into the finals.

Chill peoples.

As for only 14 games in Melbourne? Are people masochists? How many drubbing can you stand live?

Cool your heels and be patient

Drubbing interstate = flick the channel.

Drubbing at home when at the game = hell!

Good point Bunk.

[Con Gorozidis]

I dont want to be guy that told u santa doesnt exist remboy but I think the bagpipe girl goes to non saints matches as well .

But u make a good point. Not great for memberships and merchandise sales.

But I guess we made a call that the wellington game is worth our while. Wasnt it a large % of our revenue last year? We might be worse off without that game.

[samuraisaint]

I think the Wellington idea is massive. In cases like this for marketing, etc, it pays to be first. Second is nowhere. I'm going to be controversial here and suggest that maybe even a second game a year might be the ticket. As so many have suggested here, our rusted on supporters are here to stay and if we can play games overseas too which makes us good coin, then all the better. I haven't been to NZ yet, and can't get over there as I can't get extra time off over that period, but am envious of those that can as it sounds fantastic and a great experience.
Think of this:
2017 - training back at the Junction
Reserves wearing St Kilda jumpers playing at Moorabbin
Billings, Acres, Dunstan, Petracca, Eli, Bruce, Longer, + whoever else we get when we finish last again next year and botton three or four again in 2016, plus a Boyd and/or Cameron running around for us.
All is not gloom and doom.

[saintspremiers]

I have a 3-game membership and have done since 2010 after I realised that night/twilight games were so awkward to attend, limiting me to only 6 games that year.

I don't go to night games at all due to work commitments now, which leaves me with only one home game to attend this season in Round 1 vs GWS at 1:00 on Easter Sunday.

Oh hang on, I will be away for the long weekend!

Oh hang on, I can easily make it to the Anzac Day clash, because it starts at 11am.

Oh hang on, the game is being played in another country!

I can't keep hanging on forever, I think it's time to start following the VFL when we have our own team.

Maybe buy a time machine and go back to the 80's if you want 2pm Saturday every week, or just forget AFL and switch to VFL!

[saintspremiers]

I dont want to be guy that told u santa doesnt exist remboy but I think the bagpipe girl goes to non saints matches as well .

But u make a good point. Not great for memberships and merchandise sales.

But I guess we made a call that the wellington game is worth our while. Wasnt it a large % of our revenue last year? We might be worse off without that game.

Wellington is a must. 500K thank you very much for the velcro gloves!

Carlscum is a great opponent from Wellington's perspective re tourism to NZ which is the key to it being a long term money spinner for us also.

[samuraisaint]

Hope the team is really revved up for that one this time. We got caught napping against Brisbane last year - we wouldn't want a repeat of that (lack of) effort from a marketing perspective. A second match over there a year, which I have heard mentioned, would really help the club.

[saintspremiers]

Hope the team is really revved up for that one this time. We got caught napping against Brisbane last year - we wouldn't want a repeat of that (lack of) effort from a marketing perspective. A second match over there a year, which I have heard mentioned, would really help the club.

It's all about tourist numbers. Any drop off in Saints fans flying over for the game should be easily offset by Carlton fans going over, maintaining Wellington council's willingness to pay us our 500K.

Carlton's CEO likes the idea of them possibly playing over there every year against us

[plugger66]

Alright you say that about the pies but answer this if it is being a free TV all the time and the best time slots that makes clubs big. I would say in 2009 we had a much bigger membership than the Tigers. I would say between 09 and 11 we had many more Friday night games than them, Less Sunday arvo games than them and more free TV than them. I would say by 2012 they had more members than us. That doesn't make sense based on what you are saying. They still continue to grow membership where they are now double ours and even though they now have improved timelots from 2012 to 2014 it still wouldn't be as good as ours from from 2009 to 2011. Our membership and other clubs is not effected by fixtures. Lets face it every club finds fault in their fixture. When we were good we had many 6 day breaks because we also had many Friday night games after having sunday and Saturday games. Our fixture will get better in certain aspects when we improve but it will get worse in others. For example the good this fixture is we play a few bottom sides twice. The bad is the interstate trips. When our memberships drops again next year I would be looking at this years performance and not next years fixture.

There will always be a disparity between the big clubs and the smaller clubs… however the current system of fixturing the big ones against each other in prime time and having the minnows play sunday afternoons just exacerbates the problem.

There are many angles to the draw each year, ease of opponents, amount of travel, fan accessibility, but the biggest impact on clubs finances is exposure and drawing opponents with big fan bases.

If the biggest 3 or 4 clubs share 75 % of the prime time slots and always play each other twice, then they become bigger and richer. If the poorest 3 or 4 don't get any TV coverage and draw other lowly teams twice each year then they can't get sponsors, new members and they'll never catch up financially. Getting a handout each year is pathetic in comparison to the revenue from a favourable draw.

What does that have to do with Richmonds fixture and membership over the last 5 or 6 years? We had a great fixture for sales and memberships when we were going well but didn't capitalize. Always had smaller sponsors. And now because we are no good we get the Foxtel fixture which makes complete sense if I was marketing the competition. When we were a good side we complained about 6 day breaks and playing good sides twice, now we are no good we complain about Sunday arvo games and playing the poor sides twice.

[dragit]

Richmond have started playing finals again? Not sure where you are going with Richmond, they are historically a huge club who have been down for 30 years.

I'm not talking about 6 day breaks at all so you can probably stop mentioning that to me.

[plugger66]

Richmond have started playing finals again? Not sure where you are going with Richmond, they are historically a huge club who have been down for 30 years.

I'm not talking about 6 day breaks at all so you can probably stop mentioning that to me.

Yes they have now but they hadn't in 2012 and in 2009 they had less membership than us. They grew without TV exposure. My point in our fixture has little to nothing to do with membership numbers and our sponsorship has been poor even when we had huge exposure. We are a small club that will get the good slots when we come good. The big clubs usually get the good slots whether they are good or bad however the Tigers didn't but still grew as a club.

[Bunk_Moreland]

I have a 3-game membership and have done since 2010 after I realised that night/twilight games were so awkward to attend, limiting me to only 6 games that year.

I don't go to night games at all due to work commitments now, which leaves me with only one home game to attend this season in Round 1 vs GWS at 1:00 on Easter Sunday.

Oh hang on, I will be away for the long weekend!

Oh hang on, I can easily make it to the Anzac Day clash, because it starts at 11am.

Oh hang on, the game is being played in another country!

I can't keep hanging on forever, I think it's time to start following the VFL when we have our own team.

Wow what a whinge from someone who pays SFA for a membership.

Is it the clubs fault you are going away for the long weekend?

Is it the clubs fault you work at nights?

And you cant be bothered going to Twilight games.

Go to the VFL and I bet you will whinge about the weather, the parking, etc.

Fair Dinkum very precious.

[dragit]

Richmond have started playing finals again? Not sure where you are going with Richmond, they are historically a huge club who have been down for 30 years.

I'm not talking about 6 day breaks at all so you can probably stop mentioning that to me.

Yes they have now but they hadn't in 2012 and in 2009 they had less membership than us. They grew without TV exposure. My point in our fixture has little to nothing to do with membership numbers and our sponsorship has been poor even when we had huge exposure. We are a small club that will get the good slots when we come good. The big clubs usually get the good slots whether they are good or bad however the Tigers didn't but still grew as a club.

Richmond are traditionally a huge club, not sure why you keep talking about them, it's only lack of on field success that has seen their support drop away.

We had Centrebet when we had good exposure, now we have an obscure light bulb company.

It's widely acknowledged by the AFL that good fixtures and more games against bigger clubs raise membership and revenue… that's not even up for debate.