Sport

Melbourne is a notable sporting location as the host city for the 1956 Summer Olympics games, the first Olympic Games ever held in Australia and the southern hemisphere, along with the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Melbourne is home to three major annual international sporting events in the Australian Open (one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments), Melbourne Cup (horse racing), and the Australian Grand Prix (Formula One). In recent years, the city has claimed the SportsBusiness title "World's Ultimate Sports City". The city is home to the National Sports Museum, which until 2003 was located outside the members pavilion at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and reopened in 2008 in the Olympic Stand.

Australian rules football and cricket are the most popular sports in Melbourne and also the spiritual home of these two sports in Australia and both are mostly played in the same stadia in the city and its suburbs. The first ever official cricket Test match was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877 and the Melbourne Cricket Ground is the largest cricket ground in the world[citation needed]. The first Australian rules football matches were played in Melbourne in 1859 and the Australian Football League is headquartered at Docklands Stadium. Nine of its teams are based in the Melbourne metropolitan area and the five Melbourne AFL matches per week attract an average 40,000 people per game. Additionally, the city annually hosts the AFL Grand Final.

The city is also home to several professional franchises in national competitions including Football (Soccer) clubs Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart who play in the A-league competition, the rugby league club Melbourne Storm who play in the NRL competition, the rugby union club Melbourne Rebels who play in the Super 15 competition, the netball club Melbourne Vixens who play in the trans-Tasman trophy ANZ Championship, and the basketball club Melbourne Tigers who play in the NBL competition. A second Melbourne-based NBL team may be established for the 2011-2012 season. In November 2008, it was announced that the Victorian Major Events Company had informed the Australian Olympic Committee that Melbourne was considering making bids for either the 2024 or 2028 Summer Olympics