Australian Football League club Essendon's "nightmare" '13 season "has inspired more Bomber supporters to sign up, with the club predicting it will set a membership record of more than 60,000 in 2014," according to Samantha Lane of THE AGE. Essendon "has signed 5,500 new members already this year and has attracted back more than 1,000 who had let their memberships lapse in recent seasons."
Buoyed by its latest tally of 47,005 members -- research shows the typical signed-up Bomber is a middle-aged, middle-class, educated, Melbourne-residing male with family -- Essendon "is setting the bold ambition of recruiting 15,000 new members this year and sits sixth on the AFL club membership ladder." The biggest growth in Essendon's membership this year "has come from digital and junior memberships" -- which start at A$25 ($23) -- and the club believes its open training sessions throughout the summer "have proved highly successful." About 75% of Essendon members "have already renewed from last year," and the club is anticipating the eventual renewal figure will be 95% (THE AGE, 2/20).
