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How McLachlan can "take the pain out of going to the footy"

Roar Pro
1st May, 2014
19

On Wednesday, the AFL announced that Gillon McLachlan will take over from Andrew Demetriou as the new CEO.

The decision was, from the outside, a fairly simple decision. Football has very rarely swayed outside its own four walls when appointing a new CEO.

One item on the list of things for McLachlan to fix is the total cost of going to the football. In his own words he: “is determined to take the pain out of going to the footy for fans”.

The stark reality is that most of those sitting inside the four walls of plush AFL offices, with six to seven figure salaries and bonuses worth more than the average man’s salary, have lost touch with the common footy fan.

As crowd figures have diminished this year it is only now that they have come to realise the mistakes of their money hungry decisions. They tried to fill their pockets but have ultimately been burnt.

The truth is the heavy weights of the AFL don’t know a thing about footy fans.

When was the last time they had to pay for a ticket? When was the last time they went and ordered a couple of pies, a bucket of chips and two bottle of soft drink? When did they last have to pay for parking at Etihad Stadium?

The game is in good shape financially and many decisions the AFL have made have been good for the game. Yet when decisions are made to financially benefit small proportions or individuals and the fan is left to pick up the cost, then the result is going to have consequences.

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The fans are not just important to the AFL but more important to the clubs they represent and support.

As a supporter of a club, not only is it ticket prices but memberships, merchandise, memorabilia, events and everything else that goes with supporting a club.

The AFL must work with clubs to increase membership. Carlton says it believes to have close to 800,000 supporters, but only 45,000 members.

All clubs have a membership database of current and former members, but what about fans that have never been a member?

How does the AFL work with clubs to get this large segment of fans to buy a membership? Why have these fans never purchased a membership?

There are a couple of ways for the AFL to do so. They should open up channels for conversations, engage in social media and use these platforms to find out who their fans are.

From there, they can work to tailor membership packages to meet the experience they want.

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The AFL and clubs should also work to get large numbers of fans to games. Working out where fans are based and then organising travel to and from games from a central location is a great way of taking out the hassle.

Catching public transport can be a nightmare and driving is also not cheap when you take into consideration parking.

The elderly are less likely to want to catch public transport and taxis are too expensive.

The AFL must also realise that fans don’t go to games because it is too expensive, but other events happen. Buying a membership shows a commitment to attend most games, yet this isn’t possible for many.

The AFL must work with clubs to have a wider scale of membership levels, to cater for all fans. In recent times this has been three-game memberships, but clubs often determine which games these are. Why not simply give fans a choice of any three-games?

Another major issue for all fans is the price of food. Unfortunately the cost is out of the AFL’s hands and in those of the stadium owners.

Food prices must be unified among all venues and in line with normal expectations.

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Much debate has also been made about the spectacle itself – the two hours of entertainment the players put on.

In reality, most people go to watch their team win or lose. Rolling mauls, interchanges, ball-ups, and wrong decisions are very rarely counted while watching the game, so why do the AFL make such a big deal about them?

As McLachlan starts his tenure as CEO, his mantra is to take the pain out of going to the footy. It is a mantra that he will be held accountable for?

If the AFL is to return the game to the fans, who are its number one commodity, then it is time to listen and engage with us and not the people that sign your pay cheque.

Before you sign off on anything, McLachlan, ask yourself this: if you were a fan would you be happy with the decision about to be made?

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