While they were bundled out of the AFL finals series in straight sets, the Brisbane Lions came out of 2021 at the top of the club revenue ladder. The Lions’ revenue rose by 64.5% in 2021 as they, like other clubs, emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic slump.
Brisbane’s financial success off the field has been a testament to their performances on the field. The club generated the largest sponsorship and funding revenue of any team, benefiting from their third consecutive top-four finish in the home-and-away season. Like their cross-town rival, the Gold Coast Suns, Brisbane received a large slice of AFL funding. The AFL has been committed to growing the game in Queensland, which is traditionally a rugby and soccer heartland, teaming up with the Queensland Government in 2021 to invest $8 million in new grassroots-based AFL facilities.
Two major Victorian clubs, Carlton and Richmond, also recorded an influx of revenue in 2021. AFL powerhouse club Richmond produced one of the largest matchday and membership sales figures, behind only the West Coast Eagles.
AFL clubs generate revenue from the following sources:
- AFL funding
- Matchday sales and membership
- Sponsorship and other non-AFL funding
- Hospitality and pokies
Pokies Push
22.3% of the Lions’ revenue came from pokies and hospitality, the highest proportion of any team. This highlights their heavy reliance on the gaming sector. This reliance comes with a number of downsides, including abuse towards sporting personnel by punters over the loss of money through betting. Gambling also carries risks associated with addiction and significant financial losses.
Clubs that operate pokies venues to complement their revenue streams are being called on to cut ties with the gaming sector. Reigning premiers Melbourne are the most recent club to have opted out of the pokies. The club announced in 2021 that they will sell the Bentleigh Club, which has previously been an important revenue source for the Demons. 2021 runners up, the Western Bulldogs, exited the gaming industry in 2020, selling their venues in Footscray and Dromana. While Brisbane still relies on their pokies venues to generate income, a larger portion of their revenue came from matchday sales and membership, despite having a smaller membership base than some Victoria-based teams.
Membership
Unsurprisingly, the clubs that held the most members in 2021 pocketed the highest revenue for the year. As illustrated in the graph below, revenue and membership numbers followed a similar trend for all clubs, excluding the Brisbane Lions, who exhibit the largest discrepancy. Large Victorian clubs such as Richmond attracted some of the highest membership numbers in 2021, which translated to strong financial performance. The West Coast Eagles, who have the largest member base, also performed strongly.
Home crowd attendance is also a strong indicator of revenue, as members were able to attend games more freely in 2021 than in 2020. Unlike Victorian clubs, those in other states benefitted from supporters returning to the games with fewer lockdowns being imposed. Perth was able to attract large crowds for much of the season, including the 2021 AFL Grand Final. Fremantle and the West Coast Eagles attracted two out of the three highest home crowd attendances for the year, with each team attracting over 300,000 total attendees for home matches. These high attendance figures reflected positively on the clubs’ revenue.
Combined Club Revenue
Overall club revenue jumped 30.9% in 2021, with Brisbane, West Coast and Carlton recording the largest increases from 2020. However, these three teams produced the highest pokies and gambling revenue of any club, accounting for over half of the pokies revenue in the AFL. Average profit margins increased by nearly $6 million as teams emerged from the interruptions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Only three teams recorded losses in 2021, as opposed to 11 clubs in 2020. Unsurprisingly, the average home attendance figures grew by 361%. Club membership also increased, especially for those that displayed on-field success in 2021, such as Melbourne, Essendon and the Sydney Swans. The AFL itself also recorded growth in 2021, with revenue jumping by 9.42%. The increase is a testament to the AFL’s consistent commitment to the game from grassroots Auskick to the big league, despite the challenges it faced during the pandemic.
To dig deeper into any of the AFL clubs’ financials, enquire about IBISWorld’s new Australia and New Zealand Enterprise Profiles; a growing collection of in-depth reports that will analyse 5,000 leading organisations across a broad range of industries, including all 18 AFL clubs for the first time.
IBISWorld reports used to develop this release:
- State Government Administration in Australia
- Social Clubs in Australia
- Sports and Physical Recreation Clubs in Australia
- Australian Football League
- Brisbane Bears-Fitzroy Football Club Ltd
- GCFC Limited
- Carlton Football Club Limited
- Indian Pacific Limited
- Melbourne Football Club Limited
- Footscray Football Club Limited
- Fremantle Football Club Limited
- Essendon Football Club
- Sydney Swans Limited
- AFL Club enterprise profiles
