Melbourne the Sports Capital of Australia?
Melbourne the Sports Capital of Australia?November 11th 2006 23:14Ever since the 1956 Olympics Victorians have been telling us how their state, and capital city (Melbourne) is the home of sport in Australia and possibly the world. As an outsider I get the feeling they’re having themselves on.Okay, Melbourne attracts huge crowds to the spring horse racing carnival, and week in week out people fill stadiums to watch Australian Rules Football. But seriously who outside of Australia knows what AFL is, personally I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to explain to foreigners what this version of football is all about. And as for the spring carnival I’ve heard stats on how many interstate guests are at the spring carnival and it’s over thirty percent.
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Yes, Melbourne is the sports capital of Australia and even the world. It is part of our lifestyle.
Average attendances to the AFL are roughly 40,000, but some games can reach up to 90+ thousand for home & away games. Might I add, there ARE actually AFL teams in many countries around the world, but our interstate friends constantly fail to realise this. Sure, it may not be as popular as rugby league, but as a true blue Aussie sport, it is in fact becoming more globally popular.
Then we have:
AFL Grand Final
Spring Racing Carnival
Formula 1 Grand Prix
Australian Open
Boxing Day Test
Melbourne Cup Carnival (which has crowds of roughly 110,000 a year and is one of the most prestigious in the world)
Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach
JBWere Masters
Australian Motor Cycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island
We also have some rugby league games, rugby union and Soccer played here too.
Then we have stadiums like the MCG (world class – one of the seven wonders of the sporting world, and the biggest in Australia), Etihad Stadium, Melbourne Park, Rod Laver Arena, Flemington Racecourse, AAMI Park, and Albert Park for the Grand Prix.
I think you will unquestionably find that Victorians are the most passionate when it comes to sport, and that Melbourne is indeed the sports capital of Australia.