Membership....
Campbell Rose calls for more members
The Herald Sun
Jon Ralph | June 11, 2009
WESTERN Bulldogs chief executive Campbell Rose has delivered a sharp wake-up call to the club's supporters, warning the Dogs cannot become an elite club unless their fans become members. The Dogs have only 26,981 members, still short of last year's total of 28,306, and are unlikely to reach the 2008 club record of 28,725.
There are 6300 from last season still to sign up and the club believes its churn rate of nearly 25 per cent is unacceptably high.
Rose said yesterday the club had delivered on its promise to play exciting, competitive football, and deliver a financially stable administration with a newly developed Whitten Oval.
Rose's target is not families or individuals struggling to make ends meet, but those who can afford a membership yet choose not to commit.
"It's our last area of cultural taboo and we haven't been able to break it. We just don't get membership on board the way they join other clubs," Rose said.
"We have removed all the barriers to joining up, and there should be no excuses. We don't want to be leaping towards just getting to (last year's) total, we want to be surging through it."
While Bulldogs president David Smorgon has in the past been forced to plead for members so the club can stem the bleeding, Rose says the club is now in a different place.
"It's the last area the Bulldogs haven't been able to shake off yet and it's reflected by this year. We are third on the ladder and one of the most exciting teams to watch, and yet we can't seem to be able to break through that 30,000-member mark. Why is it?"
While several low-drawing clubs such as North Melbourne say they are doing well to maximise membership figures, the Dogs say there is an untapped market of supporters out there.
Their AusKick figures show they have strong support in the community.
"Our target is to get to 32,000 members," Rose said.
"We have had a phenomenal redevelopment, we have turned the finances of the club around. We are no longer the bleating, battling club. We are now beginning to mix it with the powerhouses, and we are not getting the support we deserve."