Melbourne supporters are used to a certain match-day aesthetic: cheeseboards on the balcony, a glass of Tasmanian pinot in hand, a polite golf clap when the Demons slot a goal.
But things are changing at Demon land. Not just on the field, where new coach Steven King has promised to deliver a more direct, high-octane brand of football. But off it as well.
This season, the club wants its home games to feel less like a wine bar and more like an NBA arena.
Melbourne want to reshape their match-day experience.Credit: Artwork: Stephen Kiprillis
In a bid to revive dwindling attendance and energise supporters, Melbourne will trial a new style of match-day entertainment at the MCG designed to keep fans engaged from first bounce to final siren.
Inspired by the high-energy atmosphere of basketball, the Demons are experimenting with ways to turn a trip to the footy into a more engaging stadium experience.
Club chief executive Paul Guerra says the aim is to create constant activity and interaction for fans.
“If I look at other sports like basketball, it’s kind of two hours of entertainment whiplash,” Guerra said.
“Everyone is engaged. There’s never a dull moment.”
Despite winning a drought-breaking premiership a little over four years ago, Melbourne’s membership numbers are plummeting. Incredibly, only North Melbourne, GWS and Gold Coast have fewer paid-up participants.
The club believes the traditional AFL match-day experience has failed to keep pace with the dramatic evolution of sports broadcasting over the past three decades.
Television coverage now gives fans unprecedented access to the game, while radio broadcasts provide increasingly sophisticated data and analysis. But Guerra believes the experience for fans inside stadiums has barely changed.
“If I step back and look at what TV has done over 30 years, it’s amazing what Seven and Fox are doing for the fan at home,” he said.
“You’re on the bench, you’re in the coaches’ box, you’re on the ground, you know what’s going on at every moment.
“Where radio has gone has been quite amazing, with the analytics and the data that gets fed to you.
“But as a fan at the ground over that 30-year period, not much has changed.”
Melbourne hope to address that gap by trialling new engagement initiatives beginning this weekend against St Kilda.
“It’s going to be a bit different this Sunday,” Guerra said.
“Firstly, if you look across to our big race, we are going to the new change rooms and the big race, and we’ll activate the screens there – that will be the first thing fans see.
“We are very much taking an approach to entertain, engage and educate.”
Among the changes being explored are different uses of LED signage, songs played after each Melbourne goal and involving supporters earlier in the pre-game build-up.
The first Melbourne goal at all home games this season will be greeted with an abbreviated rendition of Robbie Williams’ Let Me Entertain You, while all other goals will be followed by the goalkicker’s favourite song; an initiative made famous by the Brisbane Lions.
The club is also considering introducing more informative in-game updates for spectators.
“As we get into the season we’ll play with different things, like an announcer during the game who might give updates on injury or stats, helping the fan out there be more engaged in what’s going on,” Guerra said.
The Demons believe modern sports fans expect more from a live event, particularly when watching from home has become so comfortable.
“We want to attract a new audience to come along and that’s where that entertainment piece sits,” Guerra said.
“So what we’re trying to do is give something special for those fans and members who come to the game.”
The club is also looking at examples from other sports where crowd energy has become a central part of the spectacle.
Guerra pointed to the atmosphere created by England’s famous Barmy Army supporters at cricket matches as another example of how fan engagement can transform a sporting event.
“Look at the atmosphere the Barmy Army creates when they light up cricket,” he said.
“It brings a different piece to the game.”
Melbourne acknowledge not every idea will work, but the club believes experimentation is necessary for it to close the gap on the AFL’s biggest drawing clubs.
“It’s a new era now – we know where we are at and where we want to get to,” Guerra said.
“We want to get to where Collingwood are at, where the MCG is filled every week. In order to do that, we have to try something different. We still want to uphold the tradition of footy. Not all of these things will work and that’s OK, but we are going to keep trying.”
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