‘Most disliked’ Collingwood enjoy rising merchandise sales after AFL grand final win

Dr Abdel K Halabi, co-editor of Sporting Traditions, the journal of the Australian Society for Sports History, has highlighted now Collingwood FC’s win in the 2023 AFL grand final is boosting sales of its merchandise.

Writing on the Federation University website, Dr Halabi suggests that while the post-season months are usually a relatively quiet time for AFL clubs as they use the “time to close their books, prepare their accounting reports and finalise dates for their annual general meetings”, for the grand final winners “off-field activities and particularly the sales of grand final merchandise … significantly bolster (their) bottom line”.

Dr Halabi, an Associate Professor in Accounting, cites that the Magpies are Australia’s biggest AFL club by membership with 106,470 members and are one of three clubs to have more than 100,000 members in 2023, a year that also saw 15 clubs break their own membership records.

In terms of the financial boost for the grand final winners, he explains “when the Western Bulldogs won their first AFL premiership in 62 years in 2016, they announced a record profit of $1,773,324, up significantly from $388,262 the year before.

“The increase was largely driven by close to $2 million in merchandise sales both online and in retail shops to their grand final victory over Sydney. The then-CEO said winning the 2016 Premiership significantly contributed to the boosted profits.

“That year, Richmond made a loss of $80,257, however after winning the grand final in 2017 - their first for 37 years - their profit was $3,063,298. The 2017 annual report noted the significant increase in profits was due to ‘increased crowds and sponsorship and sales of merchandise and memorabilia’.

“When the West Coast Eagles won the grand final in 2018 in a nail-biter over Collingwood, their merchandise revenue had increased about 70% from $2,331,242 the previous year to $3,939,331.

“Melbourne Football Club, which won the AFL premiership in 2021 (their previous was in 1964), increased their bottom line by a staggering $6,328,727, from a loss of $3,690,499 in 2020 to a profit of $2,638,228 in 2021.

“Merchandise sales in the month after the grand final amounted to $2.7 million, with $1.2 million sold in the days after the grand final.

“Last year, Geelong made $500,000 from the sale of merchandise the day after the AFL grand final. “The Geelong CEO predicted the club would sell up to $5 million worth of merchandise in the weeks after the premiership, and the Cats sold the highest amount of merchandise of all clubs for the year, although Port Adelaide, Richmond, the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood did not disclose their merchandise sales in 2022.”

Referring to their win as “epic”, Dr Halabi added “Collingwood’s four-point win this year over Brisbane in one of the great grand finals will lead to a financial boom to Collingwood’s bottom line. By winning, Collingwood will also receive $1.25 million from the AFL. Last year the club recorded a profit of $7,134,753, yet this was after receiving a government grant of over $9 million for the club’s redevelopment. Without the grant, it would have made a loss as it had done in 2021 and 2020.”

He concludes “the purchases of Collingwood grand final souvenirs and memorabilia by members and the many thousands of supporters should see a very healthy profit for the club in 2023 and drive the turnaround of the club’s financial results after three disappointing years.”

Survey reveals AFL fans’ ‘most disliked’ team
Despite their record membership, a study by the Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) has revealed that Collingwood are the most disliked by the general fan.

From a survey of over 60,000 fans, over a quarter of responses selected Collingwood, with Essendon coming in next at 14.4%, with Carlton at 14.1% and Geelong at 8.6% to round out the top four.

Gold Coast received the least votes at 0.4%, with North Melbourne at 1.2% and Fremantle at 1.4%.

SEN also asked fans about their second favourite team is, with GWS leading the way at 18.1%.

The Suns came in second at 10.6% and Brisbane at 10.1%. The Western Bulldogs at 7.6% and St Kilda at 5.9% were the next highest results.

Essendon received the fewest ‘second favourite team’ votes at just 1.8%.

The responses to the survey were:

Which AFL team do you dislike the most?
Collingwood - 25.5%
Essendon - 14.4%
Carlton - 14.1%
Geelong - 8.6%
Port Adelaide - 6.8%
West Coast - 4.8%
Richmond - 4.2%
Hawthorn - 3.8%
Adelaide - 3.5%
Melbourne - 2.6%
St Kilda - 2.2%
Western Bulldogs - 1.9%
Sydney - 1.7%
GWS Giants - 1.6%
Brisbane - 1.4%
Fremantle - 1.4%
North Melbourne - 1.2%
Gold Coast - 0.4%

Which AFL team is your second favourite team?
GWS Giants - 18.1%
Gold Coast - 10.6%
Brisbane - 10.1%
Western Bulldogs - 7.9%
St Kilda - 5.9%
Sydney - 5.5%
Geelong - 5.1%
Carlton - 4.9%
North Melbourne - 4.9%
Collingwood - 4.4%
Melbourne - 3.9%
Fremantle - 3.6%
Adelaide - 3.2%
Port Adelaide - 2.8%
Hawthorn - 2.7%
Richmond - 2.6%
West Coast - 2.0%
Essendon - 1.8%

Sports Entertainment Network is a multi-platform content and entertainment group.

Image: Collingwood celebrate their 2023 AFL Grand Final win (top, credit: Collingwood FC/Facebook) and Collingwood fans at the MCH for the Grand Final win (below, credit: MCG).