Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, is frequently chosen and accepted as the sporting capital of the world. Melbourne is 2nd largest city in Australia but were voted the sporting capital of the decade in 2016. The people of Melbourne are usually sports nuts and it isn't important exactly what the sports activity is, the crowds in Melbourne come out for it.

So just why is Melbourne the sports capital and exactly how did it get to be the sporting capital? For starters, the city features a vibrant sporting history and tradition. The city was founded in 1835 and sports activity became a aspect of city daily life right from then, with the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) becoming formed in 1838. The now well known Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) launched in 1853. It is still presently there and it is the actual premier sports stadiums in the country. Several types of football became also preferred in Melbourne’s formative years, ultimately creating its own sports activity - Australian Rules Football (AFL), or ‘footy’ as it is called by the local people. The initial Melbourne Cup horse competition occured in 1861 and is still held. The initial Australian tennis championships happened in 1905 and it is still held there. Melbourne held the 1956 Olympics.

Community sport can be described as significant part of the the cities life style and involvement rates in Melbourne are among the highest globally. This is simply observed each weekend you will see just how prominent community sports activities is with people participating and viewing a wide range of sporting activities such as cricket, tennis games, footy, rugby, netball, basketball, baseball, golf and soccer. They play a fundamental part of so many people’s community lives and health and fitness. When individuals in Melbourne are not playing sport, they're fans of enjoying sport. The Australian Football League grand final attracts 100 000 fans to the MCG. Rugby Union is not a well-known or a popular sport in Melbourne, but Melbourne stills hold the world record for the greatest number of fans to attend to watch a game!

Along with the 1956 Olympics, Melbourne will continue to host international sporting events. Each year, there is the F1 Australian Grand Prix, the Australian Open Tennis Grand Slam, the Spring Racing Carnival, the MotoGP, the Boxing Day cricket international match and the Rip Curl Pro surfing competition. There are the key AFL, National Rugby League, or Australian A-League (soccer) matches on almost all weekends. There have recently been other major one-off events like the Commonwealth Games, the Cricket World Cup, World swimming championships as well as Asian Cup soccer.

All this is backed up by several first class sports activities stadiums like the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, Melbourne Park, Rod Laver Arena, AAMI Park, Hisense Arena, Etihad Stadium, Flemington Racecourse, State Netball and Hockey Centre, Margaret Court Arena and the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit which is an infrastructure which is not close to being surpassed by any other location in the world. You can certainly see how and precisely why Melbourne is considered the sports capital of the world and just why sports activity is unquestionably a part of the life style around Australia.