Hawthorn Football Club has recorded a net operating surplus of $2.01 million ($2,011,363) for the financial year ending 31 October 2018.

Hawthorn CEO Justin Reeves attributed the strong financial result to the club’s sound business model combined with its dedication to innovation and improvement.

“In 2018 the club focused strongly on taking an innovative approach to our operations, to ensure our financial sustainability” Reeves said.

“Our current business plan, Dare to be Different, underpins this line of thinking and guided our decision making as an organization.

“This year, for the first time in history, a women’s team was fielded under the Hawthorn banner and we heavily invested in this program, to ensure it was of highest standard. Testament to this investment was the success of our VFLW team, who turned three wins in 2017 into a premiership winning season in 2018.

“In addition to our investment in the VFLW program, the club also continued to invest in the development and wellbeing of its people. This was reflected in the implementation of additional staff development programs, along with continued engagement amongst the community, with a particular focus on the area of mental health and social inclusion.

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“It is testament to the club’s dedicated staff and effective business model that Hawthorn was able to post such a strong financial result while increasing its investment in some crucial areas.

“The club was able to surpass its membership record for a twelfth consecutive season; an incredible result and testament to the loyalty of our passionate brown and gold family.

Reeves said the positive financial result also assists in laying important foundations for the club as it looks towards a move to its new home, the Kennedy Community Centre.

“As we work towards developing our new home at the Kennedy Community Centre it is important that we maintain a strong balance sheet,” Reeves said.

“The club is realistic about the financial challenges it will need to overcome before its vision of a world-class facility becomes a reality, however results like these put us in a fantastic position as we move towards the capital fundraising stage of the project.

“Hawthorn is not a club to rest on its laurels and we will continue to look for ways to diversify our revenue streams and achieve commercial growth in 2019 and beyond.”

Key points of the report include:

● Club net operating surplus of $2,011,363 for the year ending 31 October 2018

● Achieved a record membership tally for the twelfth consecutive season; 81,017 (2017: 75,663), including over 9,000 Tasmanian members

● Recorded an average attendance of 45,127 across seven Melbourne home games in 2018 (2017: 44,719). Season highlights included the Round 20 fixture against Essendon (68,857) and the Round 21 match against traditional rivals Geelong (59,529). The average attendance across four home games in Tasmania was 12,578

● Hawthorn’s consolidated net asset position increased to $51.6m, up from $46.5m in 2017

● The club recorded gross revenues of $74,339,727 (consolidated) and $53,646,355 (club)

The 116th Annual General Meeting of Hawthorn Football Club Limited (“club”) will be held at the Hawthorn Arts Centre, 360 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn 3122 on Tuesday 11 December, 2018. The meeting will commence at 6:30pm.