PORT ADELAIDE Chief Executive Officer Matthew Richardson says the decision to allow up to 40,000 people back into Adelaide Oval for the AFL season has already led to an uptake in membership sales and renewals.
SA Health has approved the Oval returning to 75 per-cent of its full capacity effective immediately, up from the 50 per-cent Port Adelaide had at its Preliminary Final against Richmond.
During an interview on Adelaide radio station FIVEaa, Mr Richardson said it will be amazing to have more supporters at the ground, and the move would allow members to sit in their allocated seats.
“It is great news. Everyone has had a really tough 2020 so for our members and supporters to be able to look forward to 40,000 people at Adelaide Oval for the footy in 2021 is really exciting,” he said.
“What that will mean is that most of our members will be able to sit in their allocated seats and people have got a lot to look forward to in 2021.
“Already today we’ve seen the uptake in membership and renewals.”
Questions remain about how the 75 per-cent capacity will be managed and whether face masks would need to be worn, but Mr Richardson said those details would be worked through with the authorities in advance of the club’s first home game against Essendon on March 27, as part of the second round of the AFL season.
“There’s still some detail to work through in terms of the exact seating configurations and those types of things,” Mr Richardson explained.
“But I think we’re all really fortunate to be living in South Australia and the Government and SA Health will work through those protocols.”
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The recently elevated CEO, who replaced Keith Thomas in November, said it was hoped that the increased capacity may allow for casual ticket sales along with access for all members.
Mr Richardson said members had been so supportive of the club despite the difficulties surrounding the 2020 season and they would be rewarded with a price freeze on their memberships.
“The members who stuck with us, who are the vast majority, will also receive some special gifts in their membership packs,” he said.
“We’re really confident that we can cater for all of our members and hopefully there’ll be some opportunity for some daily ticket sales as well.”
Before the season, though, Mr Richardson is turning his attention to the club’s Annual General Meeting, to be held next Friday night at Adelaide Oval.
He said the event would be live streamed for members with details of how to watch to be distributed in coming days.
Mr Richardson said coaches Ken Hinkley and Matthew Lokan would present on how the AFL and SANFL teams are shaping up for 2021 and there would also be an opportunity to outline both the club’s strategy for the future and discuss plans for the redevelopment of Alberton Oval.
“We’re looking forward to that opportunity to be able to present to our members. We’ll also talk about our financial result for 2020,” he said.
“It is (in the) red but it’s nowhere near as bad as it could have been. There was a $20 million hit to our revenue but we’re really fortunate that with the support of our members we’ve been able to stem that, but also importantly we’ll talk about our strategy moving forward.”
Describing the strategy as “simple”, Mr Richardson said the outbreak of COVID-19 and the impacts on the club’s bottom line had forced it to go away and consider what is most important.
He said those things would be the focus.
“We’re a footy club that expects to win so it’s about that, it’s how are we going to grow our membership base and grow our supporter base, it’s about having really strong, deep commercial partners and the fact that this year we’ve got three major partners locked in long term is really significant for our footy club and gives us great confidence and belief in where we’re going,” he explained.
“It’s also about our facilities and our home at Alberton Oval and the upgrade of that facility so we’ve got some exciting plans we’re progressing with the upgrade of the Port Club facility, with the development of the museum and expanded retail downstairs.
“For the fabric of our club, Alberton Oval and that facility is going to be really significant and then the final (focus) will be debt and repaying some debt.”
