Membership numbers and how to increase them

[heart_fan10]

i think there'll be an influx of members coming in over the next few days to get in before the august 1 deadline.

[Heart of Melbourne]

2000 member is not good enough.

I was just thinking that we nee to get a big name player for membership to reach 10000.

I really hope we get Owen. Not sure if thats going to happen.

I think Tadic is a great signing which should see quite a few Melbourne Knight supporter come through the gates.

There is an untapped market and I know for a fact a lot of south melbourne do not attend the A Leauge.

why not try a lure Karagounis to Melbourne heart. He has not signed a new contact with panathinaikos. He is out of contract.

His club has offered him a $200,000 one year contract which he has refused.

What do you all think?

[Jake]

2000 member is not good enough.

I was just thinking that we nee to get a big name player for membership to reach 10000.

I really hope we get Owen. Not sure if thats going to happen.

I think Tadic is a great signing which should see quite a few Melbourne Knight supporter come through the gates.

There is an untapped market and I know for a fact a lot of south melbourne do not attend the A Leauge.

why not try a lure Karagounis to Melbourne heart. He has not signed a new contact with panathinaikos. He is out of contract.

His club has offered him a $200,000 one year contract which he has refused.

What do you all think?

i reckon we've just about got our full quota of forwards as far as the clubs concerned and i'm quite sure they see Tadic as the main man. I seriously doubt owen will happen or this fella you mention above. As good as they may be, for various reasons. Aside from that, with the visa spots used up they could only come on guest stints, as far as i know. i reckon if they get in another forward it would be a youngster, but i still think it's unlikely.

[Huzie]

Upgraded from premium B to AOH, can't wait for this season!

[Libero]

There is an untapped market and I know for a fact a lot of south melbourne do not attend the A Leauge.

why not try a lure Karagounis to Melbourne heart. He has not signed a new contact with panathinaikos. He is out of contract.

His club has offered him a $200,000 one year contract which he has refused.

What do you all think?

i honestly think we could afford more than $200,000 for him, but SM have already said they don't think a marquee player has an impact on crowds.

if they think he can offer something on the field - i certainly think he can - then he should be looked at.

[Jake]

i honestly think we could afford more than $200,000 for him, but SM have already said they don't think a marquee player has an impact on crowds.

if they think he can offer something on the field - i certainly think he can - then he should be looked at.

Don't think we'd need to allocate him marquee status to pay him $200+k given our current expenditure on players (massive guess here). It's more to do with whether he can add anything and if he even wants to come here.

Edited July 29, 2012 by Jake

[Ticker]

I'm planning on changing my membership to either General Admission or Active Supporter. If I do go with active supporter membership am I still free to sit anywhere in GA, for times when I'll be bringing extra people to games? Are there any disadvantages such as less chance of a seat for derbies?

[dRoy]

Renewed my membership today. $195.

[Peter]

I'm planning on changing my membership to either General Admission or Active Supporter. If I do go with active supporter membership am I still free to sit anywhere in GA, for times when I'll be bringing extra people to games? Are there any disadvantages such as less chance of a seat for derbies?

In our first season I used my work social club active memberships on few occasions and bought GA tickets when others were using the social club tickets.

For the first derby security wouldn't let us into the active area claiming it was full even though we had active memberships and directed us to the GA area.

I don't think you would have a problem going from active to GA but if you don't have active membership you may or may not (depending on what the rules and enforcement are regarding the expanded active area including bay 18) be able to access the active area on occasion with GA membership.

As a side note, we have renewed our family GA membership for 2012-2013.

[KSK_47]

I'm planning on changing my membership to either General Admission or Active Supporter. If I do go with active supporter membership am I still free to sit anywhere in GA, for times when I'll be bringing extra people to games? Are there any disadvantages such as less chance of a seat for derbies?

Derbys you wont be able to access GA, but any other match you wont have any dramas

[Jimmy]

FWIW it's only the one derby this season as well.

[Ticker]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. @KSK_47 when you mean I won't be able to get into GA for the Victory game will I still be fine to get into the active area or is it likely that I will be missing out completely?

[KSK_47]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. @KSK_47 when you mean I won't be able to get into GA for the Victory game will I still be fine to get into the active area or is it likely that I will be missing out completely?

With Active you will be guaranteed entry to home derbys but will only be allowed into the active area, so no chance of missing out completely.

[toogood18]

Renewed last week as did my mate.

Also agree with what was said before, unless the marquee player is a huge international star or has a huge profile, i.e Yorke or Kewell, there isn't that much of an impact on crowd numbers, look at Newcastle with Mario Jardel, the majority of marquees are a huge flop in terms of bringing huge crowds through the gate, only winning does that.

[perthheart]

Renewed my interstate membership the other day. Essentially signing up for no real benefit as will most likely be in Japan come heart's game in Perth.

My cat is terribly disappointed he is unable to join up this season. Conspiracy I tell you. How can you expect to grow your membership if the humble cat can not be a part of our great club? That's over 3 million potential feline or canine members we are excluding!

On a serious note would those stupid pet memberships actually have been included in our membership count last year? I sincerely hope not.

[Peter]

Renewed last week as did my mate.

Also agree with what was said before, unless the marquee player is a huge international star or has a huge profile, i.e Yorke or Kewell, there isn't that much of an impact on crowd numbers, look at Newcastle with Mario Jardel, the majority of marquees are a huge flop in terms of bringing huge crowds through the gate, only winning does that.

I agree in the most part. When we were winning last season our crowds were up by about 2000-3000, although this could have had something to do with the bring a friend deals. Who said there is no such thing as a free lunch?

I read this article on a blogsite from New York Times in relation to my wifes local team the Montreal Impact.

http://goal.blogs.ny...-on-star-power/

It would appear that they have the same problem attracting supporters who are used to the higher quality being offered in Europe, rather than supporting the local league. They also rely heavily on two supporter groups for most of the atmosphere being generated at games.

I included in a letter I wrote to Scott Munn a quip that Heart seem to promote the Ace of Hearts membership and Active membership which makes it appear that the club does not value our other members. As I have outlined before, segregating the active area leads to active and inactive support. Hopfully this will change.

On the topic of star players. Montreal signed Alessandro Nesta and Marco Di Vaio from Italy. Last weekend they played New York Red Bulls who have Thierry Henry and Rafael Marquez (ex. Barca). For this game they got a sell out crowd of 20000. This is up from their average of 12000-14000.

In Montreal's game against Los Angles who have David Beckham, they got a crowd of 60000 in the Olympic Stadium.

Neutral supporters will come to watch quality players they know if the players around them are also of a high quality. We cannot grow support by signing one star player and expect people to come and watch him alone. With enough quality, and results to follow, we will build support for our club and also for the A-League. Until both these factors are in place I think we will struggle to penetrate the Melbourne/Australian football market (although I hope I'm wrong).

Let's hope this season we can build on our results.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Peter

[Mentor]

So who signed up by 5pm today? i saw the facebook post/article and signed up, was pretty cheap in the end imo, much cheaper than my AFL membership, which was nice. This is my first season as a member although i cant always get to games due to being rural ect but still pretty pumped tbh

[Peter]

This is my first season as a member although i cant always get to games due to being rural ect but still pretty pumped tbh

Welcome on board!

[Jimmy]

So who signed up by 5pm today? i saw the facebook post/article and signed up, was pretty cheap in the end imo, much cheaper than my AFL membership, which was nice. This is my first season as a member although i cant always get to games due to being rural ect but still pretty pumped tbh

I'm rural as well. Where are you from?

[Mentor]

I'm rural as well. Where are you from?

Use the term rural loosely haha mate, i live in Geelong, but play Lawn Bowls in Ballarat on saturdays which doesn't finish till about 6 and makes it hard to get to games prior to start times, will be trying harder to get to more games now though

[marn11]

Use the term rural loosely haha mate, i live in Geelong, but play Lawn Bowls in Ballarat on saturdays which doesn't finish till about 6 and makes it hard to get to games prior to start times, will be trying harder to get to more games now though

I'm from Meredith. Rough.

[Jimmy]

Use the term rural loosely haha mate, i live in Geelong, but play Lawn Bowls in Ballarat on saturdays which doesn't finish till about 6 and makes it hard to get to games prior to start times, will be trying harder to get to more games now though

Fair enough, I was just thinking potential car pooling but never mind.

[Mentor]

I'm from Meredith. Rough.

Yeah atleast i have a train at both locations, the real trick is though getting from Geelong to Ballarat then to a game by public transport often......sucks

[Mentor]

Fair enough, I was just thinking potential car pooling but never mind.

No worries

[Mentor]

What do we all think will be a good membership number this year? 9K or is that not a good enough figure? it really all comes down actually attendances which we want to reach 12K on average yeah would be amazing for a 3rd year club compting in an established market?

Edited August 1, 2012 by Mentor

[Jimmy]

What do we all think will be a good membership number this year? 9K or is that not a good enough figure? it really all comes down actually attendances which we want to reach 12K on average yeah would be amazing for a 3rd year club compting in an established market?

9k would be absolutely amazing for us IMO. I don't see where all these people will come from. Going by the quiet off season, exodus of players and two seasons of mediocrity I see us having similar crowds and membership figures to last season. With modest gains if we're performing well.

The way the things are set up atm will sustain the league, not grow it.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Jimmy

[Mentor]

I'm from Meredith. Rough.

How good is the pie shop on the back of the main pub? those pies are THE best pies i have ever had

[marn11]

How good is the pie shop on the back of the main pub? those pies are THE best pies i have ever had

They're decent. But no Buninyong pie. If you're looking for the best food in Meredith, fresh chips at the corner store is the go.

[heart_fan10]

I'm interested to know how many members we currently have signed up.

[jw1739]

I'm interested to know how many members we currently have signed up.

And what are we doing to increase that number? Or cater for those who are already members?

Note that WSW drew 4,116 to a pre-season game vs. Blacktown, and there's a full report on the HAL web-site.

How many were at Port last night - 400?

I e-mailed Heart HQ on Tuesday to ask about admission cost to the Port game - haven't even had the courtesy of a reply.

[Ando]

I'm torn between siding with those complaining about various things, or just ripping in to you all for being narcissistic twats.

I think the later is more appropriate. The club is run on a shoestring budget, so chin up about not getting personalized emails. All things considered the social media side of things is run ok, granted it could be marketed a bit better.

Those people who threaten not to renew their membership...I don't even...

At the end of the day, it's in our best interest to get new people joining the club. Most of the complaints I've seen in this thread are minor and barely rate a mention.

tldr; stop whinging, and start supporting the club.

[natalie182]

I agree JW. I think it's a big worry that there were so few people last night. It's in a central location, a lot of the first team was playing, was at a reasonable time. I know the Wanderers are still a novelty, but that doesn't account for a difference of 3.5k in attendance. From the sounds of it Victory have been getting a few thousand at their pre-season games too.

I think Heart will be very lucky to beat last years membership numbers. It's not like people have high expectations of us to do well this year, in fact we're second last in the betting to win the league. What is going to make more people sign up?

[biancorosso7]

I'm torn between siding with those complaining about various things, or just ripping in to you all for being narcissistic twats.

I think the later is more appropriate. The club is run on a shoestring budget, so chin up about not getting personalized emails. All things considered the social media side of things is run ok, granted it could be marketed a bit better.

Those people who threaten not to renew their membership...I don't even...

At the end of the day, it's in our best interest to get new people joining the club. Most of the complaints I've seen in this thread are minor and barely rate a mention.

tldr; stop whinging, and start supporting the club.

THIS! THIS! THIS!

[Mentor]

Here is a link to the facebook page, suggest we have 3K members signed up at this stage

edit to include said link - http://www.facebook.com/melbourneheartfc

Edited August 2, 2012 by Mentor

[Tbitm]

This exact day last year were were on 2000. So it's definatly looking better. how many did we have last year just as a rough approximation we can make this year if we can continue this trend

[Sash]

Colosimo tweetered that we're up 20% on this time last year, which I think probably reflects the efforts made to get people to re-sign early - the price freeze and all the reminders on twitter for example. I even got a membership broshure in the mail which I didn't get last year, so that was good.

Any increase is good IMO. The target of 9,000 is unlikely I think given we've never had a home crowd of 9,000 apart from the first game and the derbies. But if we can get to last year's number (6,700?) by the start of the season, and then build on that with a couple of early wins and the five game memberships that will kick in later, that would be a reasonable expectation. I just don't think we can expect a quick jump in memberships and attendances. And nor is a sudden jump even desirable as it's often followed by a quick downturn again. We should keep working hard on the community side of things, put a good team out there, and aim for steady growth from year to year. The community things we do like clinics, school visits, players going to local clubs etc. is great. The results wont be seen straight away, but if we keep doing it in a genuine way, I think it's way more effective and sustainable than trying to build crowds with a big name player here and there. We grew our crowds and memberships last year. If we can do the same again, then I think we'll be doing well.

[Jimmy]

Great post as always Sash.

[Dr.Dreas]

just before i post im just letting everyone know i havent read everyones post so im not sure if some1 has said something very similar but...

during last season when we went on that streak we had a home game against adelaide and that was on wednsday aftenoon and the crowd was just over 6,000.

now that being a wednesday 3:00 start during a working week ( no public holidays) we got a decent home crowd. the key was us winning games, i may be stating the obviouse here but that was the perfect example, we only won i think 3 more games for the season after that, and the crowds dropped off alot. so yeah a marquee signing would obviously get people to the games, but not all year, if we are winning then they will always be up.

in regards to prices i think they are pretty decent, i just think there should be ticket benifits for general members when we play against victory and its our home game.

and example: afl membership per year cost around $350+ for games such as collingwood carlton, anzac day, essendon carlton, etc. you get a dicounted reserved seat ticket for that game.

i think MHFC and ticketteck should do something similar.

last year in one of the games memebers were allocated 2 free tickets to bring people along, i did that and my cousin and his mrs signed up (i felt proud, now there die hard heart fans).

i think that is a good thing against teams like West Sydney and Newcastle jets, but anyway it just depends on the position of them on the ladder, i think nothing would be better than getting 6,000+ at a game against west sydney or newcastle and just getting them a little bit intimidated.

In regards to 5 game memberships one of my mates from work got 1 he paid 100 bucks and got reserved seating on the side of the ground ( i sat with him for 1 game and the seats were unreal!), now last year i was a general member, i was a little bit upset that they got seats there when we get a crowd of 3,000 against goal coast (i know there gone but...) i tried to walk over and sit with them in an empty stadium and i got told to go back over there. you could argue just buy a 5 game membership but like us all on this forum im a mad heart boy, and i want to go to all the games, but unlike some i cant afford a reserved A or B seating for the whole 13 home games.

so my main concern with fan attendance is we need to win games to get them all at the game, we need to win alot more and not draw to teams like sydney in extra time, and we really need to put out some advertising weather its fox sports or on radio, create a membership add, make people want to support us from the get go.

at the end of the day there is supporters out there!!! (i try not to compare but its hard not too) there are currently 10,000 victory members already signed up, yes they have alot of history rah rah rah who gives a fuck...but we need to get those die hard "football" fans out there who dont really like the A-Leauge and choose to follow the EPL or other leauges as there number 1, we need to be there number 2 at the least.

i just relized how long this opinion is sorry if i bored the shit out of you all lol...what do u guys think?

[Peter]

Good post Mayo. One of my first heads up to the Heart was a "Help us earn our stripes" billboard in North Melbourne.

I agree we should be marketing better and yes, we all want to win.

[HEARTinator]

i just relized how long this opinion is sorry if i bored the shit out of you all lol...what do u guys think?

Haha but some good points. I have sensed a change amongst football mates that I have a kick with during weekday lunchtimes. I often go along wearing my HeartFC match day shirt to get a reaction. Usually it's a pretty good one and we start talking about the HAL, the Melbourne derbies, the old NSL days, etc. A mate who only a couple of years ago was poo pooing the HAL now sees that the standard has improved and has come to matches. The key is to develop a good football style, win more often than not and provide a good match day experience (color, music, banners, etc). Grow the club sustainably and keep your eye on the long term not short term fixes - and wear your Heart gear out in public just like there are no end of people walking around with ManU and Chelsea shirts/scarves.