KNIGHTS chief executive Philip Gardner believes the club will have more sold-out games this season than the three it finished with last year after exceeding 24,000 memberships five weeks out from the start of the season.
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Interest spurred by the NRL side's run to the finals last year has led to the new record membership figure, which betters last season's overall total of 19,927.
"Given where we're at now, and how I think we'll continue to see membership and season-ticket [sales] grow, we would expect to have a number of sold-out games," Gardner said on Friday, as the club held a fan day at McDonald Jones Stadium.
"The interest in the game, and the team, from the town is just fantastic. Those 10 wins in a row and three sold-out games have really fed into a lot of passion.
"Performance obviously has a big bearing, but the expectation is that we'll have more sell-outs than last year."
The Knights expect overall memberships to exceed 25,000, which compared to previous years should give them about the fifth-highest membership in the NRL.
About 12,000 of the club's memberships are full season-ticket holders, which is a new club record in itself.
"We'll hit 25,000 this year, but there's no reason why in the next couple of years we can't have 30,000 members," Gardner said.
"It's a stretch to get to where the Rabbitohs are, but with the support we've got, and such a big area to draw from, it's possible."
The Knights are encouraging fans to opt for a membership to guarantee a seat.
"We're going to have big crowds at every game, and if people are keen to get to the football this year, get in and buy your one, two or three-game passes," Gardner said.
"Tickets will be as scarce as hen's teeth I think by the second half of the year.
"We're about 85 per cent of corporate [capacity], so we expect all the corporate seats to be sold before we play Canberra in round one.
"Canberra, the expectation there is we'll go close to a sell out, if not sold out."
Gardner believes the recent retention of key players, including home-grown stars Jacob Saifiti, Phoenix Crossland and Bradman Best, as well as the overall strength and fitness of the NRL squad, have also been factors for the membership growth.
"There's a lot of excitement," he said.
The Knights had an average home crowd of 21,312 for last year's regular season, which was the third-highest average in their history.
But the 1990 (22,018) and 2006 (21,848) season-average crowds could be surpassed this campaign should the team's form pick up where it left off.
Looking ahead, Gardner reckons the Knights can ultimately sell-out most home games in advance.
"If we can get to 15,000 season-ticket holders, you're basically guaranteed of selling out the majority of the tickets for the season," he said. "Because you've got to factor in the away-team's supporters, and we always sell the hills.
"If we can get to 15,000 season-ticket holders, that will basically mean we're sold out, because you get a lot of three and four-game members."
Tickets for the club's home games went on sale this week. Also on Friday, the club also announced Reflection's Holiday Park as its 2024 membership partner.
Meanwhile, the club's junior sides, both boys and girls, begin their seasons on Saturday with away games.
