WIDELY slammed at the start of the season, Lance Franklin’s $10 million price tag is shaping as a massive bargain with the Swans on target to pay off the debt in just two years.

In every way you want to measure Sydney’s financial performance Franklin and the Swans are kicking goals.

Membership will tip over the 40,000 mark for the first time in the club’s history, an increase of more than 3600 on last year’s record of 36,358.

When the South Melbourne Swans arrived in 1982 their membership was just 2750.

Corporate support is up a massive $2 million, with one of their major partners, VW, in negotiations to extend their sponsorship by another three years.

Franklin is also putting bums on seats.

At the SCG blockbuster against Port Adelaide two weeks ago 41,317 turned up to see Sydney down the ladder leaders. Swans CEO Andrew Ireland revealed the club made an extra $200,000 over the budgeted crowd of 26,000.

At the same match merchandise sales reached a single day record of more than $100,000.

All this has come with Franklin playing just 12 games in the red and white.

Ireland was pivotal in bringing the superstar forward to Sydney but is reluctant to lay all the credit at Buddy’s door.

“He’s part of it,” Ireland said.

“I don’t want to say it’s all Buddy, clearly the team is playing very good footy.

“There is no doubt in a general sense Buddy is helping when you look at membership, attendances and corporate support, there’s no doubt he’s part of that.

“Always the number one thing (with bringing Franklin to the Swans) was to make our football team better, but we are not so naive as to think he would not have a commercial impact.

“History seems to show Sydney crowds love the big forwards like Tony Lockett and Barry Hall and Buddy can do some very special things.”

Franklin’s choice of the Swans over cross-town rivals the Giants has added extra spice to tonight’s local derby at the SCG.

media_camera Lance Franklin wrestles with Zak Jones at Swans. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Just four months ago GWS chairman Tony Shepherd declared the Swans’ signing of Franklin had “not been a good move” and that “with hindsight I’m relieved we didn’t get him. Not that we could have come anywhere near that price.”

Even as recently as this week the AFL’s new boss Gillon McLachlan spoke in negative terms about the Franklin contract when he told Fox Footy’s On the Couch “it’s high risk at the back end of that deal”.

On current projections the financial back end of the deal will arrive at the end of next season. If the Swans win this year’s premiership it could be even sooner.

What makes the numbers remarkable is they are coming off a base of sustained run of on-field and off field success. Since 1996 Sydney have played in 15 of the 18 finals series, winning two premierships and playing in four grand finals.

The corporate sponsorship of the Swans uniform is symbolic of their financial strength. Even before Franklin arrived Sydney had the most valuable kit in the country.

media_camera Sydney captain Jarrad McVeigh and GWS Giants captain Callan Ward ahead of the Sydney Derby. Picture: Tim Hunter

Principal partner QBE (front of guernsey), and major partners Citi (back of guernsey) and VW (shorts) all pay in excess of $1 million a year to be on the match day gear.

No other club in the AFL can match those numbers.

The value of the Swans brand and those sponsorships is set to grow even further with the national TV ratings increasing dramatically from an average 620,238 viewers last year to 724,084 this year.

Franklin has also had another obvious effect on the Swans — he’s helping them win football games.

In the last two matches he has been the difference between winning and losing.

His four goals straight in last Friday night’s win against Richmond was pivotal in a low scoring match where the Swans kicked just nine goals.

The week before he kicked the Swans’ last five goals to seal the victory over Port Adelaide. It was the only time anybody had achieved the feat since Champion Data started counting AFL statistics in 1999.

Like most things Franklin does it wasn’t just the goals it was the way he kicked them. The last two were both contenders for goal of the year.

The SCG hasn’t jumped like that in a decade, Nick Davis’s four last quarter goals to send the Swans through to the 2005 Preliminary Final (and ultimately the Premiership) was the last time the venue has seen anything like the excitement and passion Franklin has generated.

Before that there was a man called Tony Lockett.

Originally published as $10 million was a Buddy bargain