Melbourne To Host Int'l Champions Cup At MCG Through At Least '18

Melbourne has scored a football "coup" with the Andrews Government landing a "new three-year deal to bring the world's best teams to Victoria," according to Peter Rolfe of the HERALD SUN. The Melbourne Cricket Ground will host the Int'l Champions Cup until at least '18 "in the wake of a successful maiden tournament this month." The deal is "expected to pour" more than $150M ($109M) into the Victorian economy and bring more of Europe's best football teams to town. It comes after 99,382 people -- Victoria's largest football crowd -- "packed the MCG" to watch Real Madrid defeat Man City on Friday night. This year's tournament "brought tens of thousands of visitors from interstate and overseas" to see the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale in action. Half of the tickets sold before the tournament "were to people from outside Victoria." The NSW Government launched a "rival bid to try to lure the event to Sydney but Victoria was granted exclusive hosting rights" (HERALD SUN, 7/26).