TOPIC:

Surprised the East Perth figures aren't worse although they are awful. So many regulars you don't see anymore at games a noticeable loss of support. The alignment is keeping the club alive but at the same time draining the life out of it and the competition.

Culbs should give out 4 free passes with each membership.

The trick would be to say to members that they can only be used at two particular games.

Two free passes should be allowed on your clubs blockbuster game and two free passes shuld be allowed on your clubs traditionally poor turnout game.

This way the two friend you brought along to the blockbuster game would be suprised at the interest and may want to become a regular part of it.

and

On the other game of typically small attendance you would hopefully see an extra 500 or so at the game.

Could only do it for two games per season though and all clubs should be encouraged to do it on alternative days.

For me personally, I don't think my club should give any free passes. Because of personal circumstances, I can't support the club in the way I would like to. Therefore, when I do get go to Moss St, I am very happy to pay the entrance fee.

Larry Bird wrote: Surprised the East Perth figures aren't worse although they are awful. So many regulars you don't see anymore at games a noticeable loss of support. The alignment is keeping the club alive but at the same time draining the life out of it and the competition.

And yet your President said on Half Time At The Footy on the ABC 2 weeks ago EP have lost virtually no supporters and only gained new ones (from the WCE) since the alignment!!
Surely he isnt lying about that as well!!

Giving out free passes etc is all well & good. I don't believe people don't go to the WAFL because they have to pay. Passes will only hurt the clubs even more I think.

The fact is and Ive said it before I know but - the people need to be enticed. The SANFL played it smart and have a product that has some actual spice. Attaching Port Adelaide and Adelaide at least brings in the AFL supporters and gives that element of quality (by name only) that associates itself with the Glenelg's the West Adelaides and the Norwood's. It lifts their profiles and the media take it more seriously. When that happens the people take more of an interest. These are not theories anymore, these are facts for all to see.

Free passes, indigineous rounds, Womens rounds and all these novelty things will not cut it. Do we ever see aboriginal people flock to the WAFL with these indigineous rounds? Nope. It doesn't work.

Go back to the drawing board. Give West Coast their own side now, keep Fremantle with Peel and rename them Mandurah Dockers, 10 teams, No Byes, Even fixtures, and a profile that at least resembles something serious. Because how do we expect people to come down now and watch WAFL the way it is today. They are dropping as we speak and this alignment is a huge reason. It has been done the wrong way and I was saying this long before the host club bulldust was introduced. You don't need a brain to know what was going to happen. It either gets sorted this way, or we can just give out 50,000 free passes every week and have 20 indigineous and womens rounds a year. Because it wont make a dick of difference if the dish being served is a dud.

Im not negative, Im just being real.

Even I show an interest these days in the SANFL. And I never really have before. The way they have formed it and promoted it, it gets peoples interest.
Go figure.

And I am amazed people get on their soapbox about having an average crowd of say 1800 or whatever, and bag a club that averages 1400. Its hardly an overwhelming difference to gloat about. Collectively we should all be bloody disgusted with how all clubs go these days, and how so called leaders have grinded this entire competition into a nub. We have unbelievably second rate tunnel visioned people running sport in this state. And if the multi-millions spent over the years on all these redevelopments at Subiaco Oval to DECREASE the capacity by 10,000 isn't enough for people to understand the sheer level of stupidity, then look even further to the WACA where they must have spent some $100million over the past 20 years to have up to a level not much better than bloody Moorabin.

And after everything here in WA, we have absolute shit grounds, a thriving local comp now a train wreck, and no chance in hell domestic clubs can survive in a dignified way. Its not healthy for football overall, and if (and when) our AFL clubs bottom out, wait for the experts to come out of the woodwork with their theories on what should have been done. In the meantime in South Australia, such a future scenario will be a softened blow. And recovery will be automatic across the board. I believe this theory as much as I know one day I will be underground in a wooden box.

60 minutes should do a story on all of this because it would make incredible viewing.

Yep agree but we've stuffed it up so much we've lost a whole generation already who don't follow the WAFL. What do we do ??? We have to get younger people into the WAFL as most are 45yo or over !!! We don't only need free for kids - We're so stuffed we nearly need free if your under 40 !!! I don't have the answers but am interested in any ideas as we need to impliment them fast.

58shark wrote: For me personally, I don't think my club should give any free passes. Because of personal circumstances, I can't support the club in the way I would like to. Therefore, when I do get go to Moss St, I am very happy to pay the entrance fee.

To be honest free passes would really make no impact on clubs bottms lines now, the attendances are so small and so unrelaible now that the revenues are pretty much irrellevant to the clubs, what they really rely on now is dividends from the AFL football funds/drafts and Host clubs deals.

Theres no surprise in these figures anyone with half a brain could see the WAFL was in strife even without the host club deal.

If it's any concellation the AFL appears to be losing public support as well.

Perhaps people are just moving on to other things altogether..

TOP POST Jardine, once again you have HIT the nail on the head , ESPECIALLY re SUBI and the WACA,,,what a total FARCE, the admin in WA has been nothing short of derelict.

As you say once the two so called AFL beacons bottom out , and I reckon that is about 2 yrs away, crowds will drop even further and so will revenues,,impacting all the way down the line..

the WAFL clubs are now dead men walking hocked on AFL revenues with little or no public interest, its a deplorable state of affairs.

Correct Bazza our club has told us gate takings are a very small percentage of revenue. More focus is on marketing and sponsors. I definitely wouldn't call my president a liar and he is no idiot but he would make a good member of parliament. There is no doubt we have lost support and it is from our hard core base not so much the occasional supporter.

The WAFL club presidents stuffed it up didnt they??

Wasnt that concept put to the clubs..an Eagles ressies and Dockers ressies,it was a majority no??

Maybe the club presidents need to fix this!