Members are absolutely fundamental for NRL clubs and it is crucial that each club recognises how important members are for their continuing viability. In an era where well over 75% of the NRL clubs are operating at a financial loss, the financial contribution of members cannot be underestimated.
Each club will tell you that their members are important and each club works tremendously hard throughout the season to increase their membership base. For example, the Parramatta Eels were aiming for 20,000 members this year. While all the clubs work hard to recruit members, I think some clubs are doing better than others at giving members what they want and that's making them feel valued and making them feel like by signing up to be a member of the club the thing that members demand the most - and that's making them feel valued and making members feel like by signing up to contribute voluntarily to their club, they are receiving something in return.
For most members, I don't think that performance of the team is a major issue. Most fans recognise that their team cannot be successful every year and that there will be both ups and downs. I have been a member of the Parramatta Eels for 4 years now and performance has never been something which has frustrated me or caused me to reconsider my membership. While the Eels have been underperforming in recent seasons, my membership is important to me and I like to feel like I am contributing to the continuing financial viability of my club
There have been a few things however which have made me re consider my membership.
The first is scheduling. I think the NRL has made a crucial mistake in recent years by pandering to the people who watch at home, rather than people who would rather attend the game live. The people that prefer to attend the game live are often members. The NRL has shown tremendous disrespect to people who would prefer to attend matches in favour of seeking to obtain higher ratings and a greater viewer base at home. This can be seen in a number of ways. Firstly, the introduction of Thursday and Monday night football. For viewers at home, these games are fantastic. It means that there is NRL on television more nights than not during the week. This means that people watching at home have no excuse for not getting their NRL fix.
I am a member and a fan who prefers to watch my football live. I love the atmosphere and get a real buzz from being close to the action, cheering my lungs, being part of the game day atmosphere and feeling very much a part of the Parramatta Eels family. However, like most people, I work and having to leave work early on a Thursday or a Monday to attend the football is near impossible. It is also a battle even on a Friday night. These means that the games I am most likely to attend are those that happen on a Saturday or a Sunday and depending on how your team is treated in regard to scheduling, this means that the games I can actually attend are few in number. Professionals are not the only ones who would struggle to get to Thursday or Monday night games. Those with young children have problems keeping the little ones up that late, especially if they have to attend school the next day. The less games I am able to attend a year, the less valuable my membership is.
The Parramatta Eels have also made a few crucial errors in regard to members in the last couple of years. There has been tremendous improvement this year with greater communication between the club and the members, making sure members are made aware of news first and by working hard to create a better game day atmosphere. However, in 2012 there were a couple of real membership gaffes.
I'll discuss a few of them here. In 2012 the Eels introduced 2 new initiatives for members, being the Members Jersey and the Walk of Fame. I was tremendously excited about the members jersey. The plan was for it to have the name of all the members on it. I wasn't so tremendously excited when I saw the price. The members jerseys were being sold for $160. Considering that members are already making a tremendous contribution to the club, most members felt like this was just another chance for the club to get more money from them. By making the jerseys slightly cheaper and perhaps reducing the profit the club made on the jerseys in favour of making their members feel more valued, I feel like the club made the wrong choice.
Another gaffe was in regard to the walk of fame, where fans were asked to pay approximately $500 for a paver with their name on it outside Parramatta Leagues Club. Unfortunately the walk of fame was never completed and left many fans out of pocket for a long period of time.
However, I felt the biggest slap in the face to the members last year was the move of Nathan Hindmarsh and Luke Burt's NRL game to ANZ Stadium. Before you all stand up in arms and say that by moving the game, more members were able to attend - it meant that many members who had prime seating at Parramatta Stadium were fleeced with much worse seating at ANZ Stadium. As I said initially, it is all about making members feel like they are getting something of value for being a member. If people had missed out on this game because they were not members, perhaps they would reconsider their decision for the year after.
The key for Clubs is to do very small things that make their members feel valued. Paying members love their club and don't support the club to be recognised, but a bit of recognition would certainly not go astray. Player trivia nights, presenting a certain unused number jersey to a member at each home game, having a fan of the week - all these initiatives would make the fans feel a little bit more loved, especially when it feels like they are often being overlooked in favour of those viewing at homes.
I would love to hear your thoughts on your own club and how well they are doing in regard to membership.
Love,
@LadiesWhoLeague
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