Search for missing fans
Cowboys audit shows 4800 members may not have been called to renew
THE North Queensland Cowboys are scrambling to contact almost 5000 members with fears many may not have renewed their club membership to due a technical glitch.
The move comes as the club aims to amass 22,000 members, which would place it firmly in the NRL’s top four, with the ultimate goal of becoming the game’s top- ranked club for memberships by reining in juggernauts South Sydney and the Brisbane Broncos.
The Bulletin understands the Cowboys discovered some 4800 members had not renewed their membership from 2016 during a recent audit.
As at June 7, the Cowboys have 17,834 members, the ninth most of the 16 NRL clubs.
Club officials have told the Bulletin while they understand some former members may have simply left the North or been affected by other circumstances, there were “serious concerns” a percentage had not renewed as a direct result of a system failure.
The club is now working to individually contact people who joined last year but may, due to a glitch, have not been contacted to renew this year before the membership deadline of August 25.
CEO Greg Tonner said the club embarked on implementing some new systems at the start of the year to make it easier for members to acquire a membership and receive their preferred seating at games.
But he said the implementation had its challenges and the club was working hard to fix the problems ahead of the next season to improve members’ overall experiences.
“Our main concern is that we have quite a lot of members from 2016 who haven’t renewed and we’re worried that they actually don’t know that their membership has lapsed because it didn’t automatically roll over on the new system,” he said.
“We’re also concerned that there might be some members out there waiting for a reminder call from us and they think that because we haven’t called we don’t care and this is definitely not the case.”
Mr Tonner said the club had gotten together a list of members who had not renewed and staff had been calling them one by one to ask if they would continue being a part of the club.
“We don’t want members to think we don’t care about them, because we absolutely do,” he said. “The heart of any club is its members and we are doing our best to reach out to each and every one of them.
“We’re asking if you haven’t had any contact from us and you’d like to sign up or if you’re not sure if you’re still a member, then please call 1300 GO COWBOYS, or visit Cowboys HQ and we’ll sort it out together.”
More affordable membership deals and mid- season membership packs as well as membership options for people who cannot attend every game have been created to entice more members.
Ticketed memberships start from $ 39. See cowboys. memberlink. net. au/ memberhome, or call 1300 462 692.