The Australian Football League released club membership figures showing 1 million memberships were sold for the '18 season and said that "it is on track to set a new attendance record for the home-and-away season," according to Peter Ryan of THE AGE. The official figure for memberships sold before Tuesday was 1,008,494 members, "which means an average of 56,027 members per club." The AFL "needs to attract about 1.14 million spectators in the remaining four rounds to set a new attendance record." However, the "enormous growth" in membership has "only exacerbated an ongoing problem" of members getting grand final tickets, with the AFL "conceding" members of competing clubs in this year's grand final will have access to 35,000 grand final tickets. AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said that although the AFL "was always looking for ways to make it possible" for members to get tickets to the grand final, it "was impossible to accommodate everyone." He added, "We have realities" (THE AGE, 8/2). In Melbourne, Ryan also reported more than a quarter of the 1 million members of AFL clubs in '18 hold memberships "that give them access to fewer than 11 games during the season." McLachlan said that shows the AFL and its 18 clubs "now offer tailored membership packages that better reflect supporters' needs." The 11.1% increase in membership from '17 to '18 was the biggest year-on-year jump since '12. It was the first time in 30 years the increase exceeded 100,000 (THE AGE, 8/2).
'WE WILL GET THERE': In Melbourne, Andrew Wu reported AFL club Greater Western Sydney Giants Chair Tony Shepherd "has taken a crack at opponents of the AFL's push into NSW and Queensland," saying that the league "cannot be called a national competition without the expansion clubs." The introduction of second clubs in the two states, which have just over half of Australia's population, "has come at great cost to the AFL," which last year received more than A$20M in funding from the league. Shepherd defended the Giants against claims they were "a drain on the league due to the extra TV revenue generated by having an extra match each week." The current, six-year TV rights deal is worth A$2.51B ($1.85B) as opposed to the A$780M deal over five years signed in '07, when the league was a 16-team competition. Shepherd believes "the Giants, who are viewed with cynicism in the game's heartland, will be self-sustainable in 10 years' time" (THE AGE, 8/2).
'BIGGEST SCOURGE': In Melbourne, Wu also reported AFL side Hawthorn President Jeff Kennett "lashed the AFL over its stance on sports betting," which he described as the "biggest scourge in our community." The former Victorian premier believes "issues associated with gambling have overtaken mental health as the biggest challenge in the game." Kennett said, "I think sports betting is the biggest scourge in our community at the moment. ... The AFL is a major beneficiary from the money paid from sports betting" (THE AGE, 8/2).
