MCC Members

[Bomberman86]

Im an MCC member. If you dont like it, wait on the list and join us. See you in 15 years =)

 

[OldBlueFan]

I had this argument with my Brother last week (who just got his son's membership after putting him on the waiting list at birth). I think the answer is pretty simple really. Just make the cost of an MCC membership equitable with the benefits they derive.

Currently, I pay as much to be a Carlton reserve seat member (for only 11 home games) as what an MCC member pays.

Based on the benefits my brother described, I reckon an MCC membership should be worth at least 3 times what I pay, because it sounds to me to be about 3 times the value.

If members had to pay $1,200 a year for their privilege then you have either:

a) a lot more of them using it each week (to make good use of their investment) or;
b) a lot fewer members and therefore a shorter waiting list for genuine fans

This crap about "unwashed masses" is just that. I have been going to the footy religiously in the Carlton reserve section of both the MCG and Docklands for at least the last 7 years and I have not been involved in or even seen an ugly incident.

Now ... cue the howls of "HOW DARE YOU EVEN SUGGEST SUCH A THING!!!!!" from the MCC members

 

[Ants]

On the day it makes no difference but that is not the point. The whole set up is a joke and is just a legacy of history. I pay as much for a social club membership as mcc membership costs but i have less chance of getting in for the GF (if we make it) then a MCC member has who follows neither team. The AFL membership is similar.

Most its membership is based around football. If the MCC's hold on 25% of the seats at the G didn't exist historically it wouldn't exist now. Obviously people who now have memberships, or queued for years, want to maintain the status quo. Doesn't make it right.

Not a problem when you join a cricket club to go to the footy & get a seat at the Grand Final.

The Melbourne Cricket Club is a blight on Victorian sport, an elite group subsidised by the ordinary taxpayer and bankrolled by AFL footy.

What your statements totally ignore is that the vast percentage of MCC members don't fully use their membership, and that the MCC in general is subsidising your football.

Who do you think helped finance the Great Southern Stand - despite the MCC reserve being in the crappy old grand stands? Who increased its members per seat to help finance the Northern Stand? Do you really think that the ground deal for the clubs wouldn't be worse without the MCC?

The MCC members pay for an awful lot of this, helping to subsidise football. People may point out that the benefits are better than the equivalent priced football memberships - while ignoring the fact that you can't let the MCC membership go. I'm currently living in the UK for a few years, so my membership does nothing more than sponsor the ground. Similarly my father lives out in the country side and probably goes to less than 10 days of sport a year. You can't take it out when your time is free and let it lapse when say a new relationship/child/job means you can't go to the footy as much. This means it costs a lot more over a life time despite the benefits than the average membership package.

Your statements also ignore that now days the MCC is one of the most egalitarian memberships in the country. Anyone can and many do have their children put down on the waiting list, so that there is quite a spread of society in there.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

Im an MCC member. If you dont like it, wait on the list and join us. See you in 15 years =)

So cold, but being a mcc member I agree.

 

[chardonnay]

What your statements totally ignore is that the vast percentage of MCC members don't fully use their membership, and that the MCC in general is subsidising your football.
Ants from Essendon

What a load of cobblers, ignorant at best.

The MCC pay less than a net $300k per annum for the MCG, owned by the taxpayer thru the MCG Trust(valued @ $50 mil). The rent is $3.5mil p.a but the taxpayer donates in excess of $3mil p.a back to the MCC, donates, got it, gives, the taxpayer gives to the MCC who last year declared an $11mil profit.

Remember 2.8 mil went to the footy, 300k to the cricket.

Without footy, the MCG would be a white elephant ... the spin doctors call it the peoples ground, yeah !

 

[Ants]

I had this argument with my Brother last week (who just got his son's membership after putting him on the waiting list at birth). I think the answer is pretty simple really. Just make the cost of an MCC membership equitable with the benefits they derive.

Currently, I pay as much to be a Carlton reserve seat member (for only 11 home games) as what an MCC member pays.

Based on the benefits my brother described, I reckon an MCC membership should be worth at least 3 times what I pay, because it sounds to me to be about 3 times the value.

If members had to pay $1,200 a year for their privilege then you have either:

a) a lot more of them using it each week (to make good use of their investment) or;
b) a lot fewer members and therefore a shorter waiting list for genuine fans

This crap about "unwashed masses" is just that. I have been going to the footy religiously in the Carlton reserve section of both the MCG and Docklands for at least the last 7 years and I have not been involved in or even seen an ugly incident.

Now ... cue the howls of "HOW DARE YOU EVEN SUGGEST SUCH A THING!!!!!" from the MCC members

Firstly, I'm an Essendon Bronze member which doesn't cost me anywhere near as much as my MCC membership - so I'm not sure why Carlton ones are so expensive.

Secondly, how do you factor in the cost of waiting 15 years, being a reserve member, and not being able to drop the membership? As I said above, I'm in the UK for a few years. Should I be paying $1200 a year for that?

You also need to realise the reason why a lot of people don't use it is because they have it for life. And there are parts of your life where its hard to use. My dad has now retired to the country side, so only gets to a handful of games. Should he be penalised for not using it more?

On the "unwashed masses" comment, I've found that is brought up far more often by those against the MCC than by MCC members. Personally I do think the atmosphere is a bit better, which probably reflects a slightly older age group and the fact everyone is petrified about losing their membership!

 

[themidlandmaster]

Based on the benefits my brother described, I reckon an MCC membership should be worth at least 3 times what I pay, because it sounds to me to be about 3 times the value.

If members had to pay $1,200 a year for their privilege then you have either:

a) a lot more of them using it each week (to make good use of their investment) or;
b) a lot fewer members and therefore a shorter waiting list for genuine fans

THe problem with that is that the members relies on not many people turning up. With 100,000 memberships, each seat is sold 5 times. If there are too many fans,then there won't be enough seats to go round.

 

[OldBlueFan]

Both of the above posts support my point.

If someone chooses to live so far from the ground that they can't make it to matches, so be it, why should others suffer an enormous waiting list for the benefit of them?

If memberships were $1200 the seats wouldn't be sold 5 times over, it'd be more like 2 maybe 3 and the folks who owned them would use them a hell of a lot more!

 

[dickballsack]

Im an MCC member. If you dont like it, wait on the list and join us. See you in 15 years =)

try 25 years, i was lucky enough to recieve a restricted membership after 10 years ( many years ago ) and declined and got my full membership 6 months later, i have just had a mate who got his restricted after 14 years and will most likely wait another 2-3 years for full. so if you've signed up in the last few years expect to wait 25 years........................... anyway, how good's the frank grey smith bar...

 

[chardonnay]

Joining a suburban cricket club to get special rights to go to the footy: I am amazed at the compliant footy fans who cop it, who support it.
This suburban cricket club made more money than ALL Vic AFL clubs combined.

Now, I understand MCC members demanding the status quo remain supported by a socialist/professional led conservative/elitist ALP, BUT the vast majority of taxpayers arent members of either the MCC or the ALP, are we (the silent majority) just being SUCKED IN by the peoples ground spin?

 

[GoalSneak38]

stop having a sook. Should have had your name put down as a kid. I'll enjoy my heavy beers everytime paupers.

 

[dr nick]

try 25 years, i was lucky enough to recieve a restricted membership after 10 years ( many years ago ) and declined and got my full membership 6 months later, i have just had a mate who got his restricted after 14 years and will most likely wait another 2-3 years for full. so if you've signed up in the last few years expect to wait 25 years........................... anyway, how good's the frank grey smith bar...

I expect that waiting list to decline substantially as docklands and the new rectangular stadium take more codes and events away from the MCG.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

I expect that waiting list to decline substantially as docklands and the new rectangular stadium take more codes and events away from the MCG.

95% of Members are in it for the footy which isnt going anywhere.

 

[dr nick]

95% of Members are in it for the footy which isnt going anywhere.

a lot of footy has already gone to etihad (more than half infact), and rugby league, soccer, union, and a fair bit of T20 cricket will head elsewhere in the not too distant future IMO

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Not a problem when you join a cricket club to go to the footy & get a seat at the Grand Final.

Its a cricket club in name only. Just like the MCG is a cricket ground in name only.

 

[Sunday Red]

stop having a sook. Should have had your name put down as a kid. I'll enjoy my heavy beers everytime paupers.

Agreed. If you didn't get your name on the list the moment you popped out of the womb, it's your own fault

 

[magic_johnson!]

a lot of footy has already gone to etihad (more than half infact)

i don't think you could fit more games into the MCG...

 

[Ants]

What your statements totally ignore is that the vast percentage of MCC members don't fully use their membership, and that the MCC in general is subsidising your football.
Ants from Essendon

What a load of cobblers, ignorant at best.

The MCC pay less than a net $300k per annum for the MCG, owned by the taxpayer thru the MCG Trust(valued @ $50 mil). The rent is $3.5mil p.a but the taxpayer donates in excess of $3mil p.a back to the MCC, donates, got it, gives, the taxpayer gives to the MCC who last year declared an $11mil profit.

Remember 2.8 mil went to the footy, 300k to the cricket.

Without footy, the MCG would be a white elephant ... the spin doctors call it the peoples ground, yeah !

Why don't you have a look at the annual report? The cost of the stands per year is $32 million. You think the government grants come close to that? Or the rents? That is being funded largely by MCC membership fees.

You also seem to be ignoring that the MCC is a non-profit organisation. What do you think those profits will be used for? I'll tell you, it will be things like the concourse expansion that occurred, that cost a heap of money (even with the Government assistance)

And what is this obsession with footy versus cricket? Your actually not foolish enough to think the MCC is primarily about cricket do you? The MCC is the MCG caretakers, and fully recognises most of its members are more interested in the football. Not sure what that has to do with anything.

 

[chardonnay]

And what is this obsession with footy versus cricket? Your actually not foolish enough to think the MCC is primarily about cricket do you? The MCC is the MCG caretakers, and fully recognises most of its members are more interested in the football. Not sure what that has to do with anything. Ants

Obsession with footy versus cricket: Ants, joining a cricket club to go to the footy doesnt ring right to me.

The MCC management of the MCG is from a different era.
The money to develop the G comes from footy, from the taxpayer & then MCC members.

MCC members get preference over footy club members for footy matches, for the Grand Final. Its just scalping in a different guise.

Give MCC members preference to cricket matches, no worries ... understand that Ants? As an MCC member I dont see you going down that path because the MCC membership is based on footy not cricket.

More ordinary footy fans to the Grand Final, not MCC members

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Obsession with footy versus cricket: Ants, joining a cricket club to go to the footy doesnt ring right to me.

Its NOT a cricket club. The word cricket is just an historical anachronism.

Its just as nonsensical as calling the MCG a cricket ground. Nobody complains that football is played there in the winter, do they???

Maybe the MCC should rename itself (and the ground) so the uneducated dont get confused by the word cricket.

95% of MCC members are in it for the footy. We are football lovers.

 

[Khan]

This argument is closed. It happens each year. Thread Closed