A year to the day since Australia lifted the Asian Cup, new research shows the A$81M ($57.4M) economic impact "hosting the regional showpiece created for the country," according to Tom Smithies of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. More than A$7M ($4.96M) was added to the country’s gross domestic product by a tournament that sold more than 650,000 tickets and produced eight sold-out games -- "a quarter of the overall fixtures." A retrospective study conducted by research firm EY Sweeney measured the impact that the 23-day tournament had "nationally and by state." The research claims that A$81M total direct expenditure nationally can be attributed to the Asian Cup, generating a boost of A$7.3M ($5.2M) to GDP. Though this figure was "only a third of some pre-tournament forecasts," the '15 edition of the Asian Cup was seen as "easily the most successful in its history from a football perspective," with ticket sales 30% higher than the forecasts beforehand. More than 300 jobs were created, 15,000 tourists came from overseas and almost 30,000 interstate travelers visited other Australian states specifically for the Asian Cup. Of the A$81M of direct expenditure, A$30M ($21.3M) came from the tournament’s Local Organizing Committee (funded by the federal, NSW, Queensland and Victorian governments), A$8M ($5.7M) from interstate visitors and A$43.2M ($30.6M) from int'l travelers. In NSW, the report calculates there was A$38M ($26.9M) total direct expenditure generated, "nearly half of which" came from int'l visitors. Almost 200 jobs were created in NSW, and a third of the tournament’s int'l visitors came to the state. Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop said that the numbers generated by the tournament "validated the strength of football in Australia." Gallop: "The Asian Cup was a massive opportunity for Australian football that has delivered positive economic, tourist, employment cultural and football development results, highlighting the power of the world game" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 1/31).
