West Coast Eagles - Membership and Attendance

Membership and Attendance

As of July 2012, the West Coast Eagles have over 56,000 members. The club's 2011 membership of 54,745 people was a club record, and the fourth-highest overall in the AFL. Membership numbers are limited by the capacity of Patersons Stadium, which holds 43,500 seats, with 39,000 reserved exclusively for club members. In March 2012, The Weekend West reported that the cost of a West Coast Eagles adult club membership was A$283, the most of any club in the AFL. The current waiting list for family memberships is over 9,000 people, with a total waiting list in excess of 20,000 people, or around four years.

The number-one ticket holder is a position in most Australian Football League clubs given to a well-known supporter of the club. The West Coast Eagles' website lists "longevity of service", "passion for the club", "contribution to the community of Western Australia", and "the level at which they are recognised in their chosen profession by the community" as criteria for the position. Number-one ticket holders generally serve for two years. The current number-one ticket holder of the club is Michael Brennan, who played 179 games for the club, and whose son, Jacob Brennan, is currently listed with the club.

In total, 454,601 people attended West Coast Eagles home games in 2011, equating to an average of 37,883 people per game. The highest-attended home game was against Carlton in the semi-final, which was attended by 42,803 people. The highest attendance for any game featuring West Coast was against Collingwood in the qualifying final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, attended by 67,502 people. As of round fifteen, the average attendance at West Coast Eagles home games in 2012 was 37,264 people, compared to an overall competition average of 32,598 people per game. In terms of television audience, on average 519,000 people viewed West Coast Eagles games in 2011, with a high of 1,074,000 viewers for the round 16 game against Geelong.