THE global financial crisis has not prevented 1200 people paying $16,000 each for a new class of premium Sydney Cricket Ground membership that, for the first time, is fully transferable and can be passed from generation to generation in perpetuity.
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The platinum class membership was offered to holders of corporate, gold and double gold memberships who had already paid up to $17,000 plus an annual fee of up to $990 for their existing memberships, a spokesman for the operating trust confirmed.
A regulation formalising the new class of membership was gazetted by the NSW Government this week.
A platinum membership offers holders four membership cards which are, for the first time with an SCG membership, fully transferable. As well, while other premium memberships may be bequeathed only once, a platinum membership can be passed on forever. It comes as the trust is criticised by some members for being more interested in making money than looking after their interests. For example, a big sponsor, Macquarie Bank, has introduced a Macquarie Visa Platinum Card, whose holders enjoy special treatment in so-called "advantage lines", express lanes at bars and ticketing booths at the ground.
The trust's annual reports say that revenue from membership fees has risen from $11.2 million in 2005 to $17.6 million in 2008. The trust reported having 19,178 members at June 30, 2008, up from 18,500 in 2007.
The traditional method of gaining membership of the SCG, by joining a "wait list", takes at least 10 years, as new members are admitted only when old memberships are relinquished. But for those who can afford it, purchased memberships mean a spot in the members' reserve may be claimed immediately.
On big match days, competition between members for seating is fierce, which has prompted some grumbling within the ranks. It has given rise to what is jokingly known as "the Paddington Gift" - a scramble for seats on the first morning of the New Year's Day Test match. Members are forced to arrive before dawn in order to get a position in the queue.
A trust spokesman disagreed that the platinum membership drive would upset members, arguing that it was simply a "rebranding" of the old corporate membership.
