MELBOURNE Victory wants to take on some of the AFL's biggest clubs by signing 50,000 members in the next decade.

The two-time champion had an A-League-high 18,432 members for the recently completed season, but Victory managing director Richard Wilson is far from satisfied.

He wants that figure to grow by at least 35 per cent within four years before approaching the ambitious target of 50,000 paid-up members by 2023.

AFL powerhouse Richmond only broke that barrier for the first time last year, while Carlton has never topped that mark.

"You never put limits," Wilson told the Herald Sun.

"I think there's 50,000 members in this club in 10 years' time and I think if the league ever gets a full, free-to-air TV deal that just takes it to a whole new level.

"In our strategy we think it's achievable to get to 30,000 members in the next four years, the cycle of this TV rights deal. We think we'll be successful on the field which will help to underpin that.

"In 10 years' time, why wouldn't you have 50,000 at Etihad Stadium each week if all the stars align? Because it is a big thing not to compete in the AFL and NRL space. While we are in that competitive market, cricket is really the only direct competitor during the summer months.

"I'm really bullish on where I think our club can go. We know we've got supporters out there, we've got 90,000 people liking us on Facebook, all interested in what we're doing."

Victory plays home games at Etihad Stadium (capacity 56,000) and AAMI Park (30,000).

A potential base of 50,000 members would not be fully ticketed.

Similar to AFL clubs, many would be general admission members, some may have multi-game memberships, while others would be non-ticketed members.

"I think we should be over 20,000 now, but we're not," Wilson said.

"Our budget next year will be for 20,000 members and on the back of what we've done this year I think there's a real opportunity with a massive database, a massive latent support of Victory, of people who might not be a member to drive that up, and that's a really big focus for us."

Originally published as Victory dreams of 50,000 members