The game at the MCG was the first time a regular season game for the US NFL sporting code was held in Asia Pacific and it drew the seventh largest attendance of a regular season match for the NFL held anywhere.
Alongside the official spectator figures of 100,021 people within Australia’s largest stadium, the NFL reports that a peak of 21.3 million viewers based in the US watched the game via a Netflix live stream.
“This is exactly why we go after the world’s biggest events – they bring visitors to Victoria, put money into our businesses, support jobs and showcase Melbourne to millions around the world,” said Victoria’s major events minister, Anthony Carbines.
Visit Victoria CEO, Brendan McClements, echoed Carbines’ sentiments.
“The impact goes well beyond game day. Tens of millions of people around the world have seen Melbourne at its best, converting global attention into future visitation and giving people another reason to visit.”
Ahead of the NFL fixture in Melbourne, Melbourne Convention Bureau’s chief executive, Julia Swanson, also spoke to micenet about the business events and incentive opportunities yielded by Melbourne’s major events calendar.
Meanwhile, the NFL’s general manager for Australia and New Zealand, Charlotte Offord, said the Melbourne match “exceeded our expectations and marked a defining moment for the NFL in Australia”.
“The passion, energy and commitment shown by our fans, partners and entire community throughout the entire week demonstrated just how deeply the NFL resonates with Australian audiences,” she said.
Accor confirmed the game coincided with a significant boost in occupancy for its Melbourne hotels.
Accor said its occupancy across its 53 Melbourne hotels was up 25 per cent on Thursday night compared to the year prior and 18 per cent on Friday, the night of the game.
“Melbourne has an extraordinary ability to turn major sporting moments into city-wide occasions, and we’re seeing that game-day energy reflected very clearly in hotel demand this week,” said Accor Pacific’s COO, Adrian Williams.
“With gridiron fans travelling to Melbourne for today’s kick-off at the MCG, the strong uplift in occupancy across both Thursday and Friday demonstrates the value major events bring not only to hotels, but to restaurants, bars and the broader visitor economy.
“Melbourne has long established itself as one of the world’s great sporting cities, and running a successful playbook for events of this scale reinforces its appeal to both domestic and international visitors.”
Meanwhile, Marriott International said it saw a “substantial increase” in US travellers checking into its Melbourne hotels – last Thursday, US visitors were the largest single country source market staying at over half of Marriott’s Melbourne properties.
“Whilst the highest night of demand is the eve of the game itself, we were pleased to see that many of our guests extended their stays pre and post event to explore more of Melbourne and drive support for the city’s tourism,” said Marriott’s regional vice president for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, Jason Nuell.
The Victorian Government said almost half of those who attended the match travelled from interstate or overseas.
The latest available data from Tourism Research Australia shows the value of the US market to Victoria, with US travellers spending $430 million in the state in the year to March.
