WHEN people ask me what we do in the commercial department, I usually begin by listing the various departments which, in total, generate around two thirds of the club’s revenue. (The remaining third is generated through our arrangements with the AFL, the MCC and our two gaming facilities.)
The commercial department incorporates retail and merchandise, membership, community, corporate hospitality, commercial partnerships, events, marketing and communications and fund raising and bequests.
In total we have 27 full time staff, including four who are located at AFL Shared Services and who exclusively deal with membership enquiries.
It’s a large portfolio but we are fortunate to have some of the best people in the industry managing these departments.
Testimony to their performance is the enormous gains that we’ve made as a club over the last two years.
Record membership numbers (three seasons in a row); two wonderful major sponsors in Hankook and Kaspersky; total numbers of sponsors nearly doubled over 2009; substantially increased our media profile and a level of communication with our supporter base that keeps our supporters well informed and hopefully close to the club.
In the last two years we have also established a new benchmark in match day functions through our President’s Club offering and led the way in developing a range of community and social programs at Casey.
Fan development is of course critical to our long term future and to this end we are developing a strategy that will ensure that every dollar we invest in this area maximises the club’s return.
The dilemma we face is that everything we do in this space works to some degree or another, however, the key is to understand the most effective mix of these activities.
So far our aim has been about optimising the existing revenue model and we are probably 12 months away from achieving this goal.
The next stage will be about creating a new model which enables us not only to compete with the other clubs, but to hopefully surpass them.
What makes this ambition challenging, is that we operate in a highly regulated industry where we don’t control all the elements eg. centralised sponsorships arrangements, stadium etc.
At the heart of the club, both emotionally and commercially are the fans.
Literally, without them we have nothing.
It’s the passion that people have for this football club that will sustain it in the long term and our task as administrators is to find ways in which to keep the flame burning brightly.
Colorful language I know, but the reality is that this relationship is central to the club’s well being.
If we, as administrators, dilute this relationship, we reduce people’s desire to engage with the club at any level and that adversely affects our revenue streams.
Conversely, if we can develop a strong relationship with our fans, the bigger and more secure our revenue streams become.
It’s a simple but often elusive formula for sports clubs.
Fortunately we have a board led by Jim Stynes that not only understands this credo but insists on it.
We’ve come a long way in a short space of time, but we are very conscious that we need to continue to innovate and improve.
In that sense we are no different to the footy department. It’s an extremely competitive industry we operate in so we take nothing for granted.
Talk again soon.
John Poulakakis, chief commercial officer
The commercial department incorporates retail and merchandise, membership, community, corporate hospitality, commercial partnerships, events, marketing and communications and fund raising and bequests.
In total we have 27 full time staff, including four who are located at AFL Shared Services and who exclusively deal with membership enquiries.
It’s a large portfolio but we are fortunate to have some of the best people in the industry managing these departments.
Testimony to their performance is the enormous gains that we’ve made as a club over the last two years.
Record membership numbers (three seasons in a row); two wonderful major sponsors in Hankook and Kaspersky; total numbers of sponsors nearly doubled over 2009; substantially increased our media profile and a level of communication with our supporter base that keeps our supporters well informed and hopefully close to the club.
In the last two years we have also established a new benchmark in match day functions through our President’s Club offering and led the way in developing a range of community and social programs at Casey.
Fan development is of course critical to our long term future and to this end we are developing a strategy that will ensure that every dollar we invest in this area maximises the club’s return.
The dilemma we face is that everything we do in this space works to some degree or another, however, the key is to understand the most effective mix of these activities.
So far our aim has been about optimising the existing revenue model and we are probably 12 months away from achieving this goal.
The next stage will be about creating a new model which enables us not only to compete with the other clubs, but to hopefully surpass them.
What makes this ambition challenging, is that we operate in a highly regulated industry where we don’t control all the elements eg. centralised sponsorships arrangements, stadium etc.
At the heart of the club, both emotionally and commercially are the fans.
Literally, without them we have nothing.
It’s the passion that people have for this football club that will sustain it in the long term and our task as administrators is to find ways in which to keep the flame burning brightly.
Colorful language I know, but the reality is that this relationship is central to the club’s well being.
If we, as administrators, dilute this relationship, we reduce people’s desire to engage with the club at any level and that adversely affects our revenue streams.
Conversely, if we can develop a strong relationship with our fans, the bigger and more secure our revenue streams become.
It’s a simple but often elusive formula for sports clubs.
Fortunately we have a board led by Jim Stynes that not only understands this credo but insists on it.
We’ve come a long way in a short space of time, but we are very conscious that we need to continue to innovate and improve.
In that sense we are no different to the footy department. It’s an extremely competitive industry we operate in so we take nothing for granted.
Talk again soon.
John Poulakakis, chief commercial officer
