Membership at the new-look Adelaide Oval could take a combined 6000 members from the Crows and Power. Picture: Sarah Reed. Source: adelaidenow
ADELAIDE Oval membership is becoming an emotional fight, with the two Adelaide AFL clubs facing a loss of a combined 6000 members to the Stadium Management Authority's Ultimate membership.
Clubs have highlighted that passionate fans who change their membership will no longer contribute to their football clubs and no longer be considered members but customers of the SMA.
Unlike under arrangements at AAMI Stadium, those who take out membership that admits them to all fixtures at Adelaide Oval will have none of their money trickle back to the respective clubs.
The situation has allowed the clubs to pull at the heartstrings of members at a crucial time: the Crows this year banked their first profit in three years; the Power is still mired in debt and dependent on assistance.
The Crows have prepared themselves to lose as many as 4000 members to the venue, which gives Ultimate members access to all regular season football and cricket at Adelaide Oval but sends none of their $795 annual fee back to their clubs.
The Ultimate members will no longer be considered members of their club and will lose any voting rights - more significant for South Australian Cricket Association members - and are no longer expected to receive regular updates from the club they support.
The Crows were diplomatic in their assessment of the membership yesterday, but told The Advertiser their members had indicated it was becoming an emotional issue.
The club has been firm in telling existing members nothing would change in the rules and regulations of their memberships once football shifts to the Oval in 2014.
We know that football people want a personal connection with their club ... for these people a direct football club membership is the best solution
"They just need to understand that they become an SMA customer," Adelaide's general manager of supporter services, David Couch, said. Their membership is under a new arrangement.
"The SMA need to fund their operation and this is a part of how they do that," Couch said.
"It ends up in the industry anyway, but some people would like to think that they're contributing directly to their club.
"So it is important to some people. We try to keep people abreast of the arrangement in terms of that.
"It remains to be seen how many of our members will go. We're answering lots of questions at the moment with people feeling it out.
"But it's a good product and they'll get their numbers.
"You always expect a migration of people and we've modelled in a migration of our people. We've known it's been coming for a number of years and we've prepared for that."
Port Adelaide, which is striving for a fresh beginning under new coach Ken Hinkley, is giving its members a similar message.
"The Adelaide Oval Ultimate Membership will suit some people, but there is no doubt that football supporters want flexibility and choice with their seating and ticket arrangements plus they want to know that they are directly supporting their club," a club spokesman said.
"We know that football people want a personal connection with their club and they want to be part of it, and for these people a direct football club membership is the best solution."
SMA chief executive Andrew Daniels told The Advertiser it was designed to be an additional product - on top of the existing ways to attend sport at Adelaide Oval - and that the SMA was doing everything in its power to bring more people to the people's ground.
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