17 April 2018

Auckland wins Ultimate Sports City third time running

Named ‘Best Medium City’ in the SportsBusiness Ultimate Sports City Awards
SUMMARY

• Auckland has won the ‘Best Medium City’ award at the SportsBusiness Ultimate Sports City Awards for the third consecutive time

• The awards, which happen every two years, were announced at the 2018 Sport Accord World Sport and Business Summit in Bangkok last night

• Auckland was commended for its strong and transparent major events strategy and successful policy of creating home-grown events

• The award comes on the back of Auckland’s biggest period for major events, including the World Masters Games 2017, the British & Irish Lions Series, Rugby League World Cup 2017 and Volvo Ocean Race, as well as Auckland’s annual major events portfolio.

Auckland has been named ‘Best Medium City’ at the prestigious SportsBusiness Ultimate Sports City Awards for the third consecutive time.

The awards, which happen every two years, were announced at the 2018 Sport Accord World Sport and Business Summit in Bangkok last night.

Auckland’s accolade comes on the back of the biggest periods in its history for major events, including the World Masters Games 2017, the British & Irish Lions Series, Rugby League World Cup 2017 and Volvo Ocean Race stopover, in addition Auckland’s annual major events portfolio – a diverse range of cultural, sporting and lifestyle events.

The ‘Best Medium City’ award is open to cities with populations between 1.3 and 2 million. Auckland joined an exclusive group of London, New York, Melbourne and Glasgow, as the overall and city category winners.*

Mayor of Auckland Phil Goff says, “Sporting events make our city a more interesting and exciting place to live. They attract tens of thousands of competitors and spectators from around the world and inject money into our regional economy.

“Major sporting events allow us to show off everything a world class Auckland has to offer. They support our venues and thousands of people working in a range of industries around our region,” says Mayor Goff.

Head of Major Events for Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), Stuart Turner says Auckland was commended for its strong and transparent major events strategy, its successful policy of creating home-grown events, and its high scores across the judging categories.

“This latest accolade reinforces Auckland’s reputation as a major events city which can deliver world-class events – and that’s important as we compete internationally to host events which inject tens of millions into our economy every year.

“We are renowned for our natural outdoor facilities – sailing, triathlon, running and cycling events are frequently held along Auckland’s waterfront, in the Waitematā Harbour and on Auckland’s iconic Harbour Bridge, which all provide beautiful environments for athletes to race in, great vantage points for spectators and stunning images for event broadcasts.

“Hosting major events is a proven, internationally recognised way to generate social and economic benefits for cities, and Auckland is at the top of its game as a host city.”

Since Auckland’s Major Events Strategy was approved by Auckland Council in 2011, ATEED-sponsored major events have contributed $360 million to the regional economy and 2.2m visitor nights (from 2011/12 FY – 2016/17 FY).

* London was best overall Ultimate Sports City, while New York, Melbourne and Glasgow took best extra-large, large and small city awards.

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