Travel

Australia Now

Sporting Events

Australia boasts some of the world’s most magnificent sporting venues and has hosted many international events, including two Olympic Games.

Major fixtures on the international sporting calendar in Australia now include a grand slam tennis open, one of the world’s great horse races, and grand prix for motorcycles and racing cars. Australian sports events are held at high quality venues where fans can support their teams in an enjoyable, safe and friendly environment.

Background

Australians have always loved sport and have generally excelled at it. Even before federation in 1901, ‘Australia’ was competing internationally as a nation. Despite its relatively small population, Australia has produced world champions in many sports, including cricket, rugby union, women’s basketball, rowing, boxing, netball, field hockey, swimming and skiing. Around 6.5 million Australians are registered as sports participants.

Australia has more than 120 national sporting organisations and thousands of local, regional and state sports bodies. It regularly hosts international events and Australian athletes compete in events all over the world.

Olympics

Australia has twice hosted the Olympic Games, in Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000. In Melbourne 67 nations and more than 3000 athletes competed in the Games. Over 1.3 million tickets were sold to the public during the event and 110 000 tickets were sold overseas.

Sydney’s Homebush Bay was redeveloped for the 2000 Games, followed by the Paralympic Games. Both were a great success, with 10 651 athletes competing in 300 events, supported by 16 033 volunteers. The Games were logistically well organised, safe and incident-free, and International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch described the Sydney Olympics as ‘the best ever’.

Commonwealth Games

In 2006, Melbourne hosted the 18th Commonwealth Games involving 71 nations. Previous Australian host cities were Brisbane in 1982, Perth in 1962, and Sydney in 1938. The 2006 Commonwealth Games were called ‘the friendliest games yet’. They were a massive success, with an all-time high in ticket sales of 1.6 million and a global television audience of 1.5 billion.

Tennis

The Australian Tennis Open, which runs over two weeks at Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park in January each year, is the first of the four international grand slam tennis events held each year. The Australian Open attracts the world’s best tennis players and more than 550 000 spectators during the fortnight, making it the highest attended annual sporting event in Australia. Melbourne Park, home of the Australian Open, boasts 5 courts. The Rod Laver Arena, named for one of Australia’s most famous tennis champions, has a capacity of nearly 15 000 and has a retractable roof. The second largest court is Vodafone Arena, which opened in 2000, has a capacity of 10 500 and also has a retractable roof. There are also three show courts.

Cricket

Australia has staged the Cricket World Cup on several occasions, last holding it in 1992 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). On that occasion, nine international teams played 39 matches. Australia also stages one-day international cricket tri-nations tournaments with finals at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and the MCG.

Golf

In 2007, 11 Australians were ranked in the top 100 golfers in the world. The professional Golf Association (PGA) of Australasia tour attracts professional golfers from around the world. Million-dollar prize events include the Johnnie Walker Classic, Jacobs Creek Open, MFS Australian Open, MasterCard Masters and Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship. In 2007, these events were held at the Vines Resort in West Australia, the Royal Adelaide Golf Club, the Royal Sydney Golf Club, the Huntingdale Golf Club in Victoria and the Hyatt Regency Coolum in Queensland. The Golf Club Royal Melbourne (West) and Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania are highly ranked courses.

Grand Prix

The Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix is the country’s premier car racing event on the international circuit and is held at Albert Park in Melbourne, attracting crowds of more than 300 000. The Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It is held each year at the scenic Phillip Island GP Circuit.

Netball

The Australian Netball Team has won nine of the previous 12 Netball World Championships, and is currently ranked first in the world. In 1967 and 1991, Australia had the honour of hosting the Netball World Championships and in 2004, a world record crowd of 14 339 attended the Australia–New Zealand Netball Test held at the Sydney SuperDome.

Rip Curl Pro

The Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach on the Victorian Coast is Australia’s longest running and most prestigious professional surfing event. It is one of six Victorian Governmentdesignated Hallmark International Sporting Events held in Melbourne each year. Bells Beach is one of Australia’s iconic surfing locations.

Rugby Union

Australia hosted the Rugby Union World Cup competition in 2003. Each year Super 14 sides from South Africa and New Zealand play in Australia followed by their national sides in the tri-nations ‘test’ matches. International rugby union tests attract large crowds in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

Rugby League

Rugby League also stages international test matches. These follow the National Rugby League (NRL) competition which are contested by 16 clubs, and culminate in the Grand Final at ANZ Stadium and crowds of 80 000.

Swimming

Held at three world-class venues in host city Melbourne, the 2007 FINA World Swimming Championships produced many memorable moments. During the championships more than 215 000 people attended the two-week event, breaking the previous record set in 2003. In total, around 2200 athletes from 171 nations featured in the event, making it the largest in its 34-year history. Perth has also hosted the event twice.

Australian football

Australian Rules Football, also known as ‘Aussie rules’ or ‘footy’, features 16 clubs at the senior level battling through the winter months to make the top eight and qualify for the final series. The grand final at the MCG, with a crowd of nearly 100 000, is one of the country’s major annual sporting events and uniquely Australian experience.

Basketball

The National Basketball League (NBL) is Australia’s top level professional basketball competition and is held between September and April. There are 14 teams, with 12 based in Australia and one each in Singapore and New Zealand.

Soccer

The Hyundai A-League, created by the Football Federation of Australia in 2005, is the nation’s premier soccer competition. In 2007, A-League games attracted average crowds of more than 11 500. The 2007 A-League grand final was held at Telstra Dome with 55 000 in attendance.

Horse racing

Australia has a very active horse racing industry and state capitals, including Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane have busy programs. The main event of the Spring Racing Carnival in Victoria is the two-mile handicap Melbourne Cup at Flemington which attracts up to 120 000 people. It is known as ‘the race that stops a nation’. The carnival shows the horses, the glamour, the jockeys and the fashion of spring racing. In 2007, a total of over 393 000 people attended one or more of the four racing days the carnival provides.

Venues

Melbourne Cricket Ground

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) remains Australia’s iconic sporting stadium. It has built in 1853 and has established a remarkable history, having hosted major sporting events, such as cricket, Victorian Football League/Australian Football League, soccer, rugby union and league and the highly popular 1956 Olympic Games and 2006 Commonwealth Games. The MCG boasts of a total capacity of 100 000 and is in close proximity to the Melbourne Central Business District. The MCG’s world-class facilities are also home to a collection which includes some of the most priceless pieces of memorabilia from Australian sporting history.

ANZ Stadium

Built for the 2000 Olympics, ANZ Stadium is centrally located in the demographic and geographic heart of Sydney, just 17 km west of Sydney’s CBD, and 8 km from Parramatta. Unique in the world in being able to host cricket and four different codes of football, ANZ Stadium’s seating capacity varies from 83 500 for rugby union, rugby league and soccer to 81 500 for cricket & AFL. It hosts around 40 sporting events every year, attracting on average one million patrons.

Sydney Cricket Ground and Sydney Football Stadium

The Sydney Cricket Ground and Sydney Football Stadium are two of Australia’s premier sporting and entertainment venues. They are located at Moore Park, four kilometres from the central business district and adjacent to popular bars, restaurants, cinemas and shops. The grounds cater for cricket, ‘Aussie rules’, rugby league, rugby union, soccer, baseball, cycling and major music concerts. They provide a balance between big crowd atmosphere and intimacy with the on-field action.

The Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre

The Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre is the largest aquatic venue in New South Wales (NSW), in terms of attendance. It has leisure pools, a competition pool, utility pool and a training pool. Since opening in 1994, the centre has welcomed over 15 million visitors and has hosted numerous state, national and international events. The centre is home to NSW Institute of Sport programs. During the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the centre accommodated 39 aquatic event sessions over 16 days of competition. A total of 367 085 tickets were sold and 15 world records and 38 Olympic records were broken.

Key Facts

Further information

This fact sheet is also available to download ( PDF)

Note: Unless otherwise stated, all dollar amounts are in Australian dollars.

last updated May 2008