Sydney to become home of A-Leagues grand finals in Destination NSW bid to inject $26m in visitor expenditure
Destination NSW is set to transform the A-Leagues grand finals events into a “week-long extravaganza” in a new three-year partnership that will see Sydney become the home of the Isuzu UTE A-League Men’s, Liberty A-League Women’s Grand Final, the E-League Grand Final and other football related events.
Beginning in 2023, the deal between the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) and Destination NSW is hoped to create a “new tradition” for football fans in Australia, developing a more engaging grand final experience.
Danny Townsend, CEO of the APL, said: “The FIFA World Cup 2023 showed that we are a country of football fans and whet the region’s appetite for the FIFA Women’s World Cup next year. But fans don’t want to wait for four years in-between competitions to see our best sporting talent perform.
“Football fans now get the best of both worlds – they can now look forward to a showpiece Grand Final event in a set location, as well as watching A-Leagues and national team stars week-in-week-out at their local A-Leagues team.
“This is a unique opportunity to build a tradition for football fans. When you think about a cup final in England, you think about the trip to Wembley, and we want fans in Australia to look forward to the A-Leagues finals in the same way.
“We have already broken the previous record for attendance this season in the Liberty A-League Women and have set an objective to make history again with Grand Final attendance in the year that we host the FIFA Women’s World Cup.”
Minister for Tourism Ben Franklin said the addition of the A-Leagues Grand Finals to Sydney’s annual sporting events calendar would have significant benefits for NSW.
“Sydney is renowned for hosting world-class sporting events and we are going to create a new tradition for Australian football fans, making the Grand Finals a week-long extravaganza that showcases football and the best of the Harbour City,” said Franklin.
“Tens of thousands of football fans are expected to flock to Sydney for the A-Leagues Grand Finals and are forecast to inject $26 million of visitor expenditure into NSW.”
“This is another incredible addition to the already impressive calendar of world-class major events we are building for Sydney, which is a key pillar of our goal to make NSW the major events capital and premier visitor economy of the Asia Pacific.”
Minister for Sport, Alister Henskens, added: “With the FIFA Women’s World Cup coming and on the back of the Socceroos historic world cup in Qatar, football in Australia has never been stronger.”
“NSW is home to the most clubs in the A-Leagues competition, with the greatest supporter base, most passionate fans, the highest level of football participation and the best football venues, including Australia’s largest rectangular football stadium.
“This new week-long football event will provide football and sports fans with an experience unique to all other codes and cement the A-League Grand Finals amongst the very best sporting events on our national sporting calendar.”
Townsend said that for now the priority for his commercial team was to work with the NSW Government to create a ‘must see’ experience for fans.
“We are working with transport and accommodation providers to develop special packages for travelling fans, including our Official Hotel Partner IHG who have committed to offer a special discounted rate to travelling fans. Because we have certainty about which city will be hosting the final from a long way out, we are able to build a ‘Festival of Football’ around these major events.”
APL has previously partnered with Destination NSW for the return of the A-Leagues All Stars who took on FC Barcelona at Accor Stadium in front of the largest event crowd in NSW since 2019.
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topics
A-Leagues
Alister Henskens
APL
Australian Professional Leagues
Ben Franklin
danny townsend
Destination NSW
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