Membership records getting broken ahead of new season

Adelaide 36ers are the hottest ticket in town and the South Australian fans are coming out in force to support CJ Bruton’s side.

The 36ers broke a membership record last season of just under 4700 and that number has been broken this week, Adelaide ticking over 5000 members with the first NBL24 home game not until October 1 against Melbourne United.

Adelaide 36ers general manager of consumer business Ben Demertzis is very pleased with the results so far, which has rival NBL clubs approaching the club for insight into their off-court success.

“Prior to working at Adelaide, I was at Port Adelaide for 10 years, so in the AFL industry, you see what happens: if a team’s results go down, so do the crowds, in 99 per cent of cases,” Demertzis told CODE Sports.

“Last year, you would have thought when we were slowly slipping out of the finals picture, people might lose interest, but we just kept getting more and more fans wanting to come and support the team and experience what happens at our games.”

With Adelaide only a remote chance to make the playoffs at the end of NBL23, the club sold out the Adelaide Entertainment Centre for their final five matches, finishing the season with a record 9558 crowd to see the 36ers defeat eventual champions Sydney Kings.

Adelaide has been working with the venue on reconfiguring some of the seating to add more for the NBL24 season, so records can be broken during this campaign.

36ers owner and chairman Grant Kelley made the decision in 2019 to make move from the 36ers’ beloved Findon home venue to be closer to the CBD and this call has been justified, with the 36ers approaching a 50 per cent increase in membership since NBL19.

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Membership requests began as soon as NBL23 came to an end, with 97 per cent of last season’s reserve seat-holders already paid up for the NBL24 season.

“It’s been unprecedented, what’s happened with our member numbers,” Demertzis says.

“We’ve already got more than where we ended last year’s membership and we’re still two months away from our first game.

“We had 87 per cent reserved seat renewal last year and that was a high retention number. To have 97 per cent, so far out from the season, is unheard of.”

Demertzis is expecting the club break the 6000 barrier this season. The 36ers are currently are among several NBL teams working with Ticketek on a ticket resell option to add value to memberships and, importantly, fill empty seats when members don’t turn up to games.

“It’s still in a trial period, but we’re hoping to have it up and running by the start of the season where members who can’t attend games can put their tickets back into the pool for an incentive,” he says.

“From our point of view, we genuinely sold out the last five games of last season, as in you could not buy another ticket, but we’re still reliant on members showing up for it to be a full house.

“We understand when we’re selling out games, there are times when members can’t get to them and while we’re still working through it, the incentive to sending their ticket back into the pool might be something like credit toward their membership the next season.”

Read more >> Adelaide's remarkable off-season in lead up to NBL24