Melbourne ranked best sports city in the world
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12 November 2009
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Melbourne, Victoria, has cemented its position as the sporting capital of the world, taking out the ‘Best Sports City’ award at the SportBusiness Sports Event Management Awards in London.
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Melbourne took the award ahead of a competitive field of cities including Berlin, which hosted the IAAF Athletics World Championships, and Singapore, which hosted the first night Formula One Grand Prix.
Melbourne won the award for its year round calendar of major events, unrivalled sport’s precinct and infrastructure, strong event attendances and established events industry.
“This award confirms what we have all known for a long time – no other city puts on a major sporting event like Melbourne,” Victorian Tourism and Major Events Minister Tim Holding said.
“You only had to be at Flemington last week for the Melbourne Cup or be at Kingston Heath this week to see Tiger Woods and Geoff Ogilvy competing in the Masters to see our major events strategy on show.
“In awarding Melbourne and the Victorian Major Events Company, the judges have recognised the passion that Melburnians and Victorians have for sport and major events, which sets us apart from other cities.
“These major sporting events are our tourism drawcard and bring tens of thousands of visitors from interstate and overseas to our city every year.”
Melbourne is host to a number of major international sporting events including:
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- The Socceroos last match on Australian soil before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to be played at the MCG in June next year;
- The UCI Road World Championships which will take place in Melbourne and Geelong – Australian Cadel Evans is set to defend his world title on home soil after winning the 2009 event in Switzerland;
- The 2011 Presidents Cup to be played at Royal Melbourne, making Melbourne the first city outside of the United States to host the Cup for a second time;
- The Australian Open tennis tournament;
- The Spring Racing Carnival, including the world-renown Melbourne Cup horse race; and
- The Australian Football League finals annually.
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Melbourne also took out the number one ranking in the SportBusiness International Magazine Ultimate Sports City list in 2008, which every two years ranks the top cities at hosting events.
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