2024 Membership Thread

[Grantysghost]

I know there are player sponsors on this board. Can someone explain how this actually works?

Is there one sponsor per player? Do you keep the same player year to year? Do you have a say in who you sponsor? What access do you have to the player you sponsor? Do you get much in return? Is it worth it?

The player generally has up to 5 sponsors (maybe more).
Same player yep unless they aren't there any more. Eg I had Jackson Trengove and had to move. I chose a first year player to build a relationship with.
You have a say, to a point. If the players quota is full then they are unavailable.
Access to player, it's the dinner and B and F pre-drinks. I think there's maybe more this year (training?). The rest is up to you building the relationship.
In terms of value, you get the B and F (with predrinks with players), sponsors dinner, access to all Melbourne games. It's not bad value if you're already going to these things.
Ballarat games kind of dampen it a bit for me as we lose two games at Marvel in the coterie space. We are moving into the new area next season which should be amazing. We do get free entry to Ballarat (GA) and a discount on reserved seating.

PM with any other questions.

Edit: Just noticed G's response so yeah what he said too.

[SquirrelGrip]

The Player Sponsors is a coterie group. You get access to a room before, during and after games and can have a meal there.
Seats are allocated in a specific area and you sit with other sponsors. They are classed as premium seats and are located on the 2nd level right on the wing.
Players can have multiple sponsors but that normally doesn't exceed 8 people.
Once you become a sponsor of a player you can stick with them if you like or if they retire or get traded etc you can move to another player. Some sponsors have been with the likes of Bontempelli and Macrae for years.
In past years players without sponsors or just one will merge onto other tables and one year BAD and I went and we had the pleasure of both Ward and Stack on the table.
In other years I've had Webb and Macrae on the table. It depends on how many sponsors join each year. I actually think it's better to sponsor some of the lesser known players than the big name recruits.
If you join you will be given a list of which players are available for you to sponsor and during the year there is a player sponsors dinner where you get the chance to dine with that player. It's an excellent event but a bit too laden with presentation and acknowledgements of which sponsors have achieved 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years of sponsorship achievements. I find that part a bit boring.
There is also another function where you can meet with the player and at things like the Charles Sutton night you get earlier access and a chance to say hello to your player. There are 3 coterie groups and I suggest you log on for a read to see if that suits you. There have also been some additional options added to enhance the football going experience.

Send me a message if you want any other details and I can even put you through to one of the Coterie managers who would be keen to add to the group.

Thanks G, I appreciate the detail. I'm not sure if being a player sponsor is right for me or not, but that wasn't the main reason why I was asking the questions. I've been sponsored as a player in a non-AFL environment, but that was always 1:1 and they were always filled up every year.

So I wonder why they are now promoting it? Do we not have enough sponsors to cover all the players? Do we want to have more sponsors per player than what we currently have? 8 maximum does seem a lot and you wonder whether you get much interaction if you are fighting off 7 other sponsors for your player.

Does the money for player sponsors go towards something specific or is it just general revenue? It would seem more valuable to be part of the coterie if the money raised went towards something tangible.

[GVGjr]

I think the short answer is that next year they are moving into a renovated room at Marvel and they would be desperately looking to fill it with a full compliment of player sponsors.
Originally the design was for companies to advertise their business and for them to invite guests. A few tradies write it all off as a business expense.

[Grantysghost]

Thanks G, I appreciate the detail. I'm not sure if being a player sponsor is right for me or not, but that wasn't the main reason why I was asking the questions. I've been sponsored as a player in a non-AFL environment, but that was always 1:1 and they were always filled up every year.

So I wonder why they are now promoting it? Do we not have enough sponsors to cover all the players? Do we want to have more sponsors per player than what we currently have? 8 maximum does seem a lot and you wonder whether you get much interaction if you are fighting off 7 other sponsors for your player.

Does the money for player sponsors go towards something specific or is it just general revenue? It would seem more valuable to be part of the coterie if the money raised went towards something tangible.

Topdogs is a good coterie for much less.

[ledge]

So I just got an email about digital card and you get it 72 hours before game on the app.
My question is , are we still getting a normal card we can use ?
I am 60 I hate the digital world and TBH I haven’t been going to games because I just want the old card and scan.
I actually enjoy going to VFL games because the last few years .. (before covid)we actually had the old click card. I am a bulldog for life so I will get whatever way they are doing. But I also haven’t seen anything about the VFL next year membership.
I want the old plastic card :-(

[Axe Man]

So I just got an email about digital card and you get it 72 hours before game on the app.
My question is , are we still getting a normal card we can use ?
I am 60 I hate the digital world and TBH I haven’t been going to games because I just want the old card and scan.
I actually enjoy going to VFL games because the last few years .. (before covid)we actually had the old click card. I am a bulldog for life so I will get whatever way they are doing. But I also haven’t seen anything about the VFL next year membership.
I want the old plastic card :-(

It depends if you opted to go digital or not. If you did nothing I believe you will still receive a membership pack including the plastic card.

[ledge]

It depends if you opted to go digital or not. If you did nothing I believe you will still receive a membership pack including the plastic card.

I didn’t go digital so maybe I get both.

[Axe Man]

I didn’t go digital so maybe I get both.

Yep, handy to have the option of the app if you misplace your card.

[Eastdog]

Renewed my East West Bulldogs membership today over the phone.

So 2024 WB membership and 2024 East West membership renewed.

Now for things to get going for us on the field.

[jazzadogs]

There is a Black Friday offer of almost 50% off a bronze 9 game membership. Wonder if we got less renewals than we had hoped for...

[Danny the snakeman]

There is a Black Friday offer of almost 50% off a bronze 9 game membership. Wonder if we got less renewals than we had hoped for...

Good deal with SC added.

[Eastdog]

Received my 2024 Doggies membership pack today.

Got the usual things membership card of course, Scarf, lanyard, EJ Whitten social club badge and member sticker for the car.

[merantau]

I bought 3 memberships as gifts today as the Black Friday deal was still open. Was told we are ahead of last year at this stage.

[Smads57]

I was in the Bulldog Shop briefly the other day where there is a membership 'tally' on display and I'm fairly sure the number was in excess of 30K

[Grantysghost]

Hawks already hit 50k...

Crazy. That's a lot of Labradors.