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Melbourne - The Sporting Capital Of The World

20 April 2016

It’s official: Melbourne is the sporting capital of the world for the last decade.

Overnight, we were crowned the SportBusiness Ultimate Sport City of the Decade at the 10 Year Anniversary Awards in Switzerland, confirming our claim as the world’s best city for sport.

The SportBusiness Ultimate Sport City Awards are the longest-running rankings of the world’s top sports hosts. We took out the one-off gong ahead of Berlin, London, New York and, of course, Sydney.

Melbourne is no stranger to the podium, winning the World’s Ultimate Sports City in 2006, 2008 and 2010 – and we’ve blitzed the field once more. Our city has been judged the 2016 Ultimate Sports City in the Large Cities category, and we’ve claimed the Best Venues category too.

The Award caps a historic decade-long legacy of hosting some of the world’s most sought-after sporting events. We’re home to the Australian Open Grand Slam, the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, the MotoGP and a long list of blockbusters other cities can only dream of staging, including:

  • The 2006 Commonwealth Games
  • The 2007 FINA World Swimming Championships
  • The 2010 UCI Road World Championships
  • The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup
  • The 2015 AFC Asian Cup

Our legacy is unrivalled, but our future is just as outstanding. In the last 12 months alone, the Andrews Labor Government has secured the return of the Presidents Cup, the World Cup of Golf, the International Champions Cup and a Socceroos blockbuster with Greece.

Our world-class sporting precinct stands without peer. We have the iconic MCG, Etihad Stadium and AAMI Park. Add to that Melbourne Park and Hisense Arena and there really is something for everyone and the best of everything.

We have the most loyal and passionate fans too, who join visitors from all over the globe in turning out to our events each week. It’s why European giants Liverpool and Real Madrid choose our state for their overseas tours, and it’s why Sydneysiders had to come to Victoria to see a State of Origin match played in front of 90,000 fans.

The SportBusiness Ultimate Sport City Awards prove it: There’s no place on earth for sport like Melbourne.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Sport, John Eren

"It’s official: We are the sporting capital of the world. This award marks an outstanding decade of the biggest and best globally-renowned events."

"The eyes of the sporting world are on Melbourne all-year round. We have all the top-class events, and we want more of them."

"Whether it’s a Formula 1 Grand Prix, a Tennis Grand Slam, the world’s best Spring Racing Carnival or a one-off blockbuster at the MCG, Melbourne is at the top of the bucket list of sports fans right around the globe."

Reviewed 19 August 2020

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