2019 Western Bulldogs Membership Thread

[Scraggers]

In the modern era the club is selling a product - success.

The members no longer live around the corner from the ground. They have to get a reward for their commitment and it is not happening.

Personally, I am still angry after the Carlton fiasco. I expected the result from the moment I saw the team structure. Even worse, others are angry too.

The membership growth depends on continuing success, they go to see wins not experimentation or team development taking years.

I love your passion, and am reading this thread with great interest, but some of your statements are just wrong. Carlton have had 16 wins since the end of the 2015 season (including a wooden spoon) and still have 60,000 members this year. They are definitely not selling success.

I have been a fully member of the Bulldogs since 1997 (also for 5 years previous to then but not in successive years). I live in Perth. My membership is not based on wins/losses, it never has been; therefore I am happy to say, I am not a Bandwagoner. I would hazard a guess that most member of WOOF are the same, and most of the 40,000 are as well. the 10K members we picked up straight after the Premiership were great for the club, but were never sustainable. Some of that is to do with on-field performance, but not all of it.

[Eastdog]

I’ve been a WB supporter since the early 2000s and a WB member since 2013. When we aren’t going well that is when we need our members the most. I’m on the Bulldog train no matter what.

We have people who for financial reasons may not afford the top memberships on offer so that’s understandable but if you are in a position finanically to support the club it is a great thing to put something in even if it’s the least expensive membership on offer by the club.

[GVGjr]

The key word is professional. That implies responsibility.

14 big losses in 30 games. They own them.

Occasional wins are usually against teams at the bottom of the ladder.

That’s not going to grow the membership. It is not a product that ordinary people usually buy.

Time to start acting differently, that is what a professional would do.

I sort of agree with what you are saying, too many people were happy to go through the motions in 2017 and I think our average performance since the flag had a massive impact on our membership numbers. Had we backed up our success of 2016 with a top 4 or 6 finish in 2017 we would be a lot closer now to having 50K members. That would be a great number for us.

When momentum is stopped it's just so hard get started again. You can quickly lose growth over a 3 or 4 year period in a season or two.

Off field we have been fantastic with new teams introduced and strong profit performances but we just needed stronger on field performances than we have produced and that has been a difficult challenge for us.
I think the club has been very well managed but if I am to be critical perhaps we have been a bit too patient with our on field results.

If we can get some momentum back this year, back it up in 2020 then we will win back a lot more members.

Most of us here at Bulldogs for life regardless of our position on the ladder but we are fighting to win back others that place a premium on being entertained and getting results.

[GVGjr]

I love your passion, and am reading this thread with great interest, but some of your statements are just wrong. Carlton have had 16 wins since the end of the 2015 season (including a wooden spoon) and still have 60,000 members this year. They are definitely not selling success.

I have been a fully member of the Bulldogs since 1997 (also for 5 years previous to then but not in successive years). I live in Perth. My membership is not based on wins/losses, it never has been; therefore I am happy to say, I am not a Bandwagoner. I would hazard a guess that most member of WOOF are the same, and most of the 40,000 are as well. the 10K members we picked up straight after the Premiership were great for the club, but were never sustainable. Some of that is to do with on-field performance, but not all of it.

The market has changed though Scraggers, many people can watch us every week on the TV and if they don't feel like we are going to be competitive they might as well stay home an watch it from there. Memberships aren't the be all and end all to a lot of people now and the task for the club is to win those people that more or less sit on the fence.

[Danjul]

The market has changed though Scraggers, many people can watch us every week on the TV and if they don't feel like we are going to be competitive they might as well stay home an watch it from there. Memberships aren't the be all and end all to a lot of people now and the task for the club is to win those people that more or less sit on the fence.

Not only those people but children generally.

They are exposed to football and replays and commentators. And they go for the winners.

If anyone is basing their thoughts on their own history with the club they are being short sighted.

Today, the team is playing for future members.

[Danjul]

I love your passion, and am reading this thread with great interest, but some of your statements are just wrong. Carlton have had 16 wins since the end of the 2015 season (including a wooden spoon) and still have 60,000 members this year. They are definitely not selling success.

I have been a fully member of the Bulldogs since 1997 (also for 5 years previous to then but not in successive years). I live in Perth. My membership is not based on wins/losses, it never has been; therefore I am happy to say, I am not a Bandwagoner. I would hazard a guess that most member of WOOF are the same, and most of the 40,000 are as well. the 10K members we picked up straight after the Premiership were great for the club, but were never sustainable. Some of that is to do with on-field performance, but not all of it.

I have been going to Bulldog games for more than 60 years and I know that many of the Carlton members are products of past success (multiple premierships). They got kids and now have their grandchildren.

Same with Richmond. My son used to wear a Richmond jumper to primary school. Guess who was winning premierships then.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

One word.... reproduction. We are going to have to breed more bulldog supporters. My Catholic grandparents produced 13 children.
I can see Peter Gordon heading a video campaign extolling "have one for mum, one for dad and a dozen for the bulldogs" ( with apologies to Peter Costello)

[ledge]

What is our membership at , anyone know?

[bornadog]

What is our membership at , anyone know?

Yeah the thread went off the rails when I posted it. We just ticked over 40,000 at the beginning of the week

[HOSE B ROMERO]

Hopefully a win against the tigers will bump the membership along.

[bornadog]

40,603

[GVGjr]

40,603

Thanks for the update BAD, we might limp into 41K

Just a couple of years ago we thought 50K was an albeit an outside chance.

[comrade]

Thanks for the update BAD, we might limp into 41K

Just a couple of years ago we thought 50K was an albeit an outside chance.

It wasn't long ago that low 30s was the norm. We'll get to 50K at some point.

[bornadog]

42,495

751 off last years total

[merantau]

42,495

751 off last years total

That's a good result considering.