Um or a club that can afford to stand on its own feet and draw upon the resources of a high membership, with which Collingwood uses to hire high performance coaches etc. that Sydney are struggling to afford. The club itself has said that if membership goes backwards or stays low, they will not be able to compete with the massive clubs such as Hawthorn who have much more financial reserves to draw from.
There are CURRENT Sydney Swans members who are priced out of the Grand Final, and travel and accommodation are an externality, it would occur whether they were from Sydney Swans or any club as that is the conditions of the AFL Grand Final, so I think those points are moot. Yes Sydney to Melbourne air travel is a variable that would increase with higher Swans memberships, but just like any traveler, you will save money if you book far in advance (my return tickets are less than $200 as I booked in Round 20). That is simple economics, price elasticity of demand in action. There are x amount of fans that DEMAND to get from Sydney to Melbourne for the AFL Grand Final that booked after the Preliminary Final that far exceed SUPPLY. And complain
And for those that were so worried about missing out on an AFL Grand Final ticket, (honestly, trying not to sound facetious) the club does offer the Premiership Club add-on and did so right up until not long ago so that is yet another moot point.
I get quite upset about this membership issue because it is about the on-going financial strength of the club. Without members, there will be no club. I wasn't around when the club was going through all sorts of financial strife, and I'd rather not see it again.
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