The AFL and their clubs are working tirelessly to make sure members get some value out of their memberships, despite not being able to attend games.
Carlton CEO Cain Liddle revealed exclusively on SEN Breakfast that club members might soon get free access to Kayo, allowing them to watch all games.
“I can let you know, I’ve just got off the phone with Kylie Rogers at the AFL, her team have been working absolutely around the clock,” Liddle said.
“At the moment a normal Kayo registration or membership costs about $25 per month. The AFL has just done a deal to reduce that to $2.50 per month and that’s something all clubs are going to work with their members as to how we fund that.
“That will need to be paid directly by the member, but there’s a process clubs are working on behind the scenes to work out how over the two months we can return that $5 to the members to actually give those who don’t have access to the broadcast of all games, presuming we’re going ahead, access to them free of charge.
“You can rest assured that clubs first and foremost are looking after their people internally from a safety perspective, but really the next point of consideration is our members and I think as you can see by that there’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes.”
Liddle added that the Blues are still seeing membership growth, with fans wanting to support the club in these tough times.
“This might surprise some people and not surprise others, I actually emailed the club and got a membership report and our membership grew by 50 yesterday,” he said.
“As you’d know, we already hit our membership record so you could argue we’d already satisfied a whole heap of demands and yet we had 50 people ring the club yesterday and say we want to support the club and I want to get on board.
“I think from a membership perspective, that does make us different to other sports and leagues, we’re not privately owned.
“There’s no one sitting back earning dividends from our members’ investment. That money goes to run the clubs the members own. We’re a member-owned organisation.
“The research tells us 80 per cent of people feel a part of that club and want to financially support that club.
“The idea that people are rushing to get refunds couldn’t be any further from the truth.”