The fairytale of the Western Bulldogs' on-field success has translated into an off-field windfall for the club, with the Dogs wiping more than $6 million from their debt in a year.
Releasing their financial details on Wednesday, the Dogs showed off a revenue increase of 17 per cent, with their total of $48.4 million a new record.
The club posted an operating profit of $3,641,018, while taking a $1.9 million impairment charge on their discontinued Edgewater project, giving them a statutory profit of close to $1.8 million.
Most dramatic, however, was their near total eradication of debt, which had fallen from $8.3 million to $1.9 million in just 12 months.
Chief executive Gary Kent - who took over mid-year following the resignation of David Stevenson - thanked the club's record membership of more than 40,081 for helping the club achieve its success.
"We're really proud of the progress our club has made over the past few years, in all areas both on and off the field," Kent said.
"Winning the 2016 AFL premiership was a significant contributor to our financial results, but we are also pleased that the club's underlying business showed strong growth with commercial partnerships, membership, merchandise, fundraising and hospitality venues all performing strongly throughout the whole year.
"The club also saw record growth in game attendance, digital platforms and with 23.5m TV viewers the Western Bulldogs were the most watched sporting team in Australia."
This year was a dramatic success for the Dogs. In addition to breaking their 62-year premiership drought, the club also won the VFL premiership and claimed the Hampson-Hardeman cup for winning the women's exhibition match against Melbourne.
Meanwhile the Bulldogs have released their new jumper numbers for 2017. Veteran Travis Cloke has been given No. 13, while backman Marcus Adams has moved from No. 33 to No. 25. The club's draftees have been given the following numbers: Patrick Lipinksi (27), Fergus Greene (30), Lewis Young (33), Nathan Mullenger-McHugh (40) , Tim English (44) and Tristan Tweedie (45).
