AFL hits milestone membership numbers as footy fans flock to sign up
A record number of footy fans are signing up as club members, with several teams edging towards the 100,000 milestone. See where your club ranks on the membership ladder.
Victoria
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The AFL has hit a milestone with more than one million club members – one in 25 Australians – signed up for the 2022 season.
A total of 1,043,604 footy fans have joined as members this year, surpassing the one-million milestone 20 days ahead of reaching the same figure last year.
West Coast and Richmond continue to lead the membership ladder having also come out on top last year, while grand finalists Melbourne and Western Bulldogs have achieved record sign-ups.
The one-million membership figure includes AFLW club membership, which recorded an 89 per cent year-on-year growth to reach a record 48,712.
AFL chief Gillon McLachlan said the continued support from fans across the country was a sign of footy’s strong return in 2022.
“Australian football is well and truly back,” he said. “With full capacity at every venue around the country, the return of general admission access, reserved seat members back in their seats, and now more than one million club members, we couldn’t be prouder of our start to the year.”
Premier Melbourne has signed up 59,144 members, topping last season’s record figure by almost 6000.
The Bulldogs and Port Adelaide have also enlisted more fans this year while Carlton, St Kilda and Fremantle are close behind.
Last year’s Covid-ravaged season which was affected by border closures, crowd caps and empty stadiums, still produced a record 1,113,441 club memberships as fans backed their clubs through hardship.
With 15 rounds left, the AFL is on track to beat last year’s total – which was led by West Coast with 106,422 members.
Despite missing the top eight, Richmond was second on the 2021 membership ladder with a club record 105,084, passing the 100,000 mark for the fourth year in a row.
Richmond in 2018 was the first club to break the 100,000-member mark.
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