THE CARLTON Football Club is pleased to today announce a net operating profit of $1,282,346 for 2021, up on the operating break-even result achieved in 2020 of $34,639.

This operating result has contributed to the Club declaring a statutory net profit position of $20,257,029 for the year ended 31 October 2021 – inclusive of government grants and philanthropic contributions towards the IKON Park Redevelopment, which has now surpassed 50 per cent completion.

This outstanding result has been achieved in a year where the impacts of COVID-19 have once again been felt across society and the industry; resulting in the Club playing three home games behind closed-doors and a fourth home game moved interstate.

As a result of these continued impacts of COVID-19, the Club’s revenue from operating activities was down 13 per cent from pre-COVID-19 results in 2019. However, the Club continued to navigate its way through the challenges faced and was able to accomplish arguably its most significant off-field achievement of the last 25 years.

In January 2021, with significant thanks to the fantastic support of Carlton members and key stakeholders, the Club was able to eliminate its remaining $4 million of historical debt – ensuring the Carlton Football Club is now debt free for the first time since 1996.

The Club’s membership base continued to lead the way towards this landmark milestone, who despite the restrictions imposed on game-day attendances throughout the entire 2021 AFL season, grew 21 per cent to reach 81,302, a record-high for an incredible sixth consecutive year.

The Blues also welcomed a new Co-Major Partner Great Southern Bank during the year, who will provide the highest level of support to the Club for at least the next three years – doing so alongside Hyundai who will see their Co-Major partnership with the Club extend into a 27th year in 2022. 

The Club’s non-traditional revenue streams of Carlton IN Business and Carlton College of Sport also continued their tremendous growth, with revenues up 75 per cent in just 12 months.

During the year the Club completed Stage 1 of its IKON Park Redevelopment, which saw the delivery of the country’s first fully integrated, high-performance facility for our AFL and AFLW players, incorporating an expanded gym, medical facilities and new changerooms, as well as improved administration spaces to continue to deliver on the Club's strategic objectives.

Stage 2 of the Redevelopment is now well underway, which will see the Carlton Football Club cement IKON Park as the home of AFLW.

President Luke Sayers said every Carlton person should take great pride in the financial result delivered today.

“Our football club’s ability to not only handle the continuing financial challenges of COVID-19 but deliver a positive financial result is a testament to the effort and contributions made by everyone associated with the football club,” Sayers said.

“The Carlton Football Club is debt free, for the first time in 26 years, this is an exceptional achievement of which we should all be proud and we owe a great deal of thanks to our members and partners for helping us get to this point.

“As a Board, we have maintained focus on the 10 key targets contained within our strategic plan. This has allowed us to navigate the difficulties and challenges of this year, whilst maintaining a clear focus on our key priorities.

“From this strong position we launch into 2022 full of confidence, with the wave of support from the Carlton faithful right across the country behind us, we will continue to move this football club forward in pursuit of the sustained success, on and off the field, we are all working to achieve each and every day.”