Big Fremantle profit but $1 million WAFC royalties black hole as Dockers financials revealed

The profit is the club’s third of more than $1 million in as many years and comes off the back of record crowds, membership and turnover, with a $1.84 million royalty also paid to the WA Football Commission.

But that royalty, down from $2.25 million in 2022, combined with West Coast’s plunging financial fortunes following a second consecutive disastrous season, means the total royalty paid by WA’s two clubs has plunged by more than $1 million from $4.96 million in 2022 to $3.84 million in 2023.

The royalty has also dipped by almost $2 million over the past two seasons, down from $5.7 million at the end of the 2021 season.

The Dockers, who had a slow start to the 2023 season and never quite got back on an even keel despite several mid-season mini-revivals, did achieve a record club membership of 62,245, record club turnover of $71.59 million and record average attendances at home games of 44,097 which ranked them in the top six of the AFL.

But spiralling costs ate into the extra revenue and the crowds, which were built off the optimism of the club’s top six finish in, fluctuated.

Non-derby attendances reached as high as 49,469 for the round 17 clash with Carlton, which fell just short of CEO Simon Garlick’s goal of getting a crowd of 50,000 for a non-derby home game.

But the crowds also dipped below 40,000 three times for the round eight home game against Hawthorn after the early season wobble and for late season games against contenders Brisbane and Port Adelaide when Fremantle’s finals hopes had been extinguished on the way to a 10-13 win-loss.

Retired President Dale Alcock said his last season at the club was a financial success.

“The result will be our third consecutive operating profit above one million dollars and keeps us firmly on track to achieve our 2025 Strategic Plan KPI of $6 million in cash reserves by the end of 2025,” he said in the club’s financial report.

“We have proudly achieved these results after our royalty contribution to WA football and knowing that we continue to represent one of the club’s healthier and financially independent clubs.”

Garlick added in the report that Fremantle off-field fortunes were still dependent on what happened on field.

He said prior to accepting the position late in 2019, he had studied the Dockers’ figures relative to powerhouses West Coast and Richmond for the 2010 season.

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At the time, the Dockers (39,850) had more members than the Tigers (35,960) and their average attendance at Subiaco Oval that year of 36,540 was greater than the Eagles, who averaged 34,930 in a season in which the club received its first wooden spoon.

“A decade later and both of these clubs have membership bases of more than 100,000 and set the benchmark from an off-field support and strength perspective,” Garlick said.

“Along with Hawthorn and Sydney, they provide examples of what is possible once you build a program that contends for premierships over a long period.”