Links to all Team Memberships at bottom of the article.
If you knew that buying a membership this season with your favourite Sal’s NBL team could lead them to current and future success, would you do it?
If buying a membership made your team stronger, more sustainable, able to deliver success to your home city, help put on a better show and do more in the community with the fans and the youth, would you do it?
It might sound simplistic, but if having more members equalled playing in more finals and winning more championships, would you buy a membership and support your favourite team?
That path to success in sport often correlates with how big a team’s membership base is.
Members = success.
The Sal’s NBL team you follow, either passionately or casually, the team you and your work colleagues discuss on a Monday morning around the lunchroom table at work, the team you look for in the latest sports results in the local paper or online, the team flying the flag for your city - that team needs you to become a member in 2021.
The same team you might have supported as a kid alongside your mum and dad, and now you follow them along with your own children. That team needs you to become a member in 2021.
Maybe you’ve moved away, but don’t let that stop you from supporting your home town’s NBL team once again.
The team providing role models for the today’s youth and aspirations for future players who might one day pull on the team’s colours and entertain the next generation - yes, that team needs you to become a member in 2021.
And being a member doesn’t start and stop at the front door of the basketball stadium, so if you can’t make it to every game that’s ok, your team still needs you.
The greatest thing about being a member is that you know (and the team knows) you are always there for them. Let that sink in. As a member the team knows you are always there for them. The players know you are there for them. Being a member is about being a part of the team.
Sport can bring lots of joy, community and social inclusion and connectedness, friendships, and equally it can deliver a little heartache and disappointment along that same journey. That’s the emotional connection that makes being a member so much fun.
But what if your team wasn’t there? What if your team didn’t run out this week, this season, or ever again?
What if your city wasn’t represented? What if the next generation didn’t have the chance to excel and perform, or to represent their city in the same way as the stars of today, and yesterday did?
And what if that battle to survive and thrive hinged on you, and others like you, stepping up and buying a season membership? Would you do it?
Hoping the fans turn up next week and buy a ticket isn’t enough, and that's why membership provides a deeper and more meaningful connection.
Australia’s indigenous game, Australian Rules Football (AFL), is the beacon for sports membership in this part of the world. Across the competition’s 18 teams some 1.2 million fans do more than just buy a ticket to a game here and there, they step up and join their team as an annual member. They guarantee their support for the whole season – no matter if they are sitting in the stands, watching on TV at home, or out doing something else.
Win or lose, they're in it for the long haul.
Those sorts of numbers equate to more than $150 million going into the game’s economy, probably closer to $200 million, and no doubt a long way towards the survival and success of every AFL team.
And yes, members = success!
In the AFL, the Richmond Tigers had 35,960 members in 2010 and finished fourth rung off the bottom of the ladder (15th). Fast forward to 2018 when they signed 100,726 members and they have since won the last two premierships (2019, 2020). The Richmond members often refer to themselves as the Tiger Army and with those numbers you can see why.
Amazingly, that membership base has been built from just 8,229 in 1994. Just four years earlier than that, in 1990, Richmond fans were rattling tins at traffic intersections asking for money to help their team avoid extinction. They raised just over $150,000 and kept the doors open. The rest, as they say, is history.
Fast forward 30 years and today Richmond is one of world sports’ most formidable membership groups that focuses heavily on the emotional triangle of membership. Some of the biggest sports teams across the globe would love to have over 100,000 fully paid-up annual members.
Ask the Richmond Football Club why they are here today and what has led to their recent success and they will ALWAYS answer with members being firmly on top of the list …. and by some margin.
And what exactly is the emotional triangle of membership?
These are the three emotional ties that make being a member of a sports team so much richer and deeper.
And memberships come with great benefits too – better value tickets, prime seating, access to opportunities a casual fan might not get, closer access to the team. It’s next level stuff.
Become A Member Of Your Favourite NBL Team Today!
Team memberships across the Sal’s NBL are now on sale and your team needs you now more than ever before. The future success of your team sits with you, its members.
Make no mistake, every member counts.
The League is going through an amazing growth phase right now and all 10 teams need more members to keep building this growth, to build stronger and deeper tribalism, city versus city, region versus region, members versus members. And to build long-term sustained success.
Will you take the next step and join your team as member and help them deliver success?
Connect with your team today and become a member – here’s the membership links to each Sal’s NBL team:
Sky Tower AUCKLAND HUSKIES
Memberships Available: Children, Adults, Families, Seniors.
Become a Huskies Member today - click HERE
EnviroNZ FRANKLING BULLS
Memberships Available: Children, Adults, Families, Students, Seniors.
Game Tickets: click HERE
Steelformers TARANAKI MOUNTAINAIRS
Memberships Available: Children, Adults, Families, Students, Seniors.
Become a Mountainairs Member today - click HERE
Taylor HAWKE'S BAY HAWKS
Memberships Available: Children, Adults.
Become a Hawks Member today - email HERE
Property Brokers MANAWATU JETS
Memberships Available: Children, Adults.
Become a Jets Member today - click HERE
WELLINGTON SAINTS
Memberships Available: Children, Adults, Students, Seniors.
Become a Saints Member today - click HERE
Mike Pero NELSON GIANTS
Memberships Available: Children, Adults.
Become a Giants Member today - click HERE
Wheeler Motor Company CANTERBURY RAMS
Memberships Available: Children, Adults, Families.
Become a Rams Member today - click HERE
OTAGO NUGGETS
Memberships Available: Children, Adults, Families, Students.
Become a Nuggets Member today - click HERE
SIT ZeroFees SOUTHLAND SHARKS
Memberships Available: Children, Adults, Students.
Become a Sharks Member today - click HERE
