FootyGoss :: All the Latest AFL and WAFL Breaking News

Eagles soar on support

By Mr Dandalooa

Despite not enjoying the on-field success most in WA would like, the West Coast Eagles have emerged as one of the most successful footy franchises in the AFL in the corporate side of football.

Increasing membership again last year, now with 54,000 supporters, the Eagles have created a loyal support base in terms of members and its business affiliates.

FootyGoss was told that the club made almost $4 million profit last year, which overshadows many AFL clubs, including the Fremantle Dockers.

The Eagles are understood to have signed a sponsorship deal with Australian Reliance, a local business that has grown to be one of Australia’s leading insurance brokers.

It also has BHP Billiton as the naming sponsor of its Kicking Goals program.

The Kicking Goals program is one of Australia’s largest regional based AFL mentoring programs, combining sport-based initiatives to help high school students in the Pilbara towns of Port Hedland and Newman achieve better educational and employment outcomes.

The program is a curriculum-based initiative that utilises a reward and incentive system, where students are required to maintain certain key performance indicators to stay in the program and be eligible for various incentives.

Launched in 2005, the program delivers a range of targeted sporting and educational strategies. Kicking Goals is a joint initiative by the West Coast Eagles, the Swan Districts Football Club and BHP Billiton Iron Ore and involves 10 visits to the Pilbara every year by players and coaching staff.

Eagles’ chief operation officer Richard Godfrey said the support of members and corporate supporters like BHP helped the club through tough economic times.

“We deliver great service which is why they remain loyal,” he said.

Turning over $46 million last year, Godfrey said the Eagles understand that on-filed success is directly related to the club’s off-field success and that came down to developing its business opportunities.

“A lot of these companies want to be seen putting something back into the community in which they operate, and so that’s obviously a very important strategy for them,” he said.

“But you’ve got to start to develop these relationships at a lower level I’d say, so you grow confidence and partnerships that way.

“We thought it was pretty important during 2009 to focus on our core business, that’s principal and I think it’s probably what a lot of businesses obviously did, and we did that to the best of our ability.”