The Western Bulldogs' premiership success has seen them leapfrog several of their Victorian rivals in the membership stakes in official figures released by the AFL today.

The Bulldogs have recorded a 21 percent rise, adding 8194 members from last season.

The league has recorded over 900,000 members for the first time in history, further closing in on the one million mark.

One in 27 Australians is a member of an AFL club.

In a sign the game is finally taking hold in New South Wales, GWS and Sydney have recorded massive membership growth.

The Giants have recorded an enormous increase of almost 37 percent as they enter their second finals campaign, while the Swans are just shy of 60,000 members.

But the figures do not differentiate between NSW-based and Victorian-based Swans members.

Collingwood has regained its place atop of the membership ladder with 75,879 members, despite another disappointing season without finals.

Essendon gained 10,274 members as it moves on from the supplements scandal and its 2016 disaster.

Fans in Western Australia may finally get a guaranteed seat with the new Perth Stadium scheduled to be ready for next season.

Domain Stadium, the current home of West Coast and Fremantle, only holds 43,500 fans.

The Eagles boast 65,064 members, while the Dockers have 51,254.

North Melbourne's decision to delist its four veterans and move into an "aggressive reset" has seen the club slump to the lowest membership total among Victorian teams, with 4671 fewer members than 2016.

No Victorian team recorded fewer than 40,000 members.

Worryingly, despite the game flourishing in New South Wales, it is shrinking in Queensland.

The Lions recorded an 8.4 percent decrease, while their rivals Gold Coast recorded a 9.3 percent decrease as both teams struggle for on-field success.

Full 2017 AFL membership ladder:

  1. Collingwood: 75,879 (+1.66%)
  2. Hawthorn: 75,663 (+0.41%)
  3. Richmond: 72,669 (+0.54%)
  4. Essendon: 67,768 (+17.87%)
  5. West Coast: 65,064 (-0.19%)
  6. Sydney: 58,838 (+4.1%)
  7. Adelaide: 56,865 (4.71%)
  8. Geelong 54,854 (8.47%)
  9. Port Adelaide: 52,129 (-3.0%)
  10. Fremantle: 51,254 (-1.22%)
  11. Carlton: 50,326 (+0.39%)
  12. Western Bulldogs: 47,653 (+20.77%)
  13. Melbourne: 42,233 (+7.89%)
  14. St Kilda: 42,052 (+10.64%)
  15. North Melbourne: 40,343 (-10.38%)
  16. Brisbane: 21,362 (-8.36%)
  17. GWS Giants: 20,944 (+36.78%)
  18. Gold Coast: 11,665 (-9.25%)