Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, is commonly chosen and called the sports capital of the world. Melbourne is second largest city in Australia yet were selected as the sports capital in the decade in 2016. The people of Melbourne are actually sports nuts and it isn't important exactly what the sport is, the crowds in Melbourne turn out for it.

So just why is Melbourne the sports capital and how did it get to be the sports capital? First of all, the city is known for a vibrant sporting past and tradition. Melbourne was founded in 1835 and sport became a feature of city daily life starting from then, with the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) becoming formed in 1838. The now widely known Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) launched in 1853. It's still presently there and it is now the largest sports arena in Australia. Unique variations of football grew to become also preferred in Melbourne’s beginning years, in due course leading to its very own sports activity – Australian Rules Football (AFL), or ‘footy’ as it's called by the local people. The initial Melbourne Cup horse race happened in 1861 and it is still held. The initial Australian tennis championships happened in 1905 and is also still held in Melbourne. Melbourne put on the 1956 Olympics.

Local community sport is a really important part of the the cities way of life and participation rates in Melbourne are among the highest globally. This is certainly quickly noticed each weekend you can see just how dominant community sporting activities is with people participating and viewing a number of sporting activities including cricket, tennis, footy, rugby, netball, basketball, baseball, golfing along with soccer. They play a fundamental part of so many people’s social lives and health and fitness. When people in Melbourne aren't actively playing sport, they are fans of viewing sport. The Australian Football League (AFL) grand final attracts 100 000 people to the MCG. Rugby Union isn't a well-known or a common sport in Melbourne, but Melbourne stills hold the record for the highest number of individuals to attend to see a game!

In addition to the 1956 Olympic Games, Melbourne will continue to run international sports entertainment. Each year, they hold the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, the Australian Open Tennis Grand Slam, the Spring Horse racing Carnival, the MotoGP, the Boxing Day cricket test game and the Rip Curl Pro surfing competition. You will find the major AFL, National Rugby League, or Australian A-League (soccer) matches on the majority of weekends. There have also been various other major one-off events such as the Commonwealth Games, the Cricket World Cup, World swimming championships and also Asian Cup soccer.

All this is backed up by a number of world class sports activities amenities such as The Melbourne Cricket Ground, 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 and that is an infrastructure that isn't close to being matched by any other city in the world. It is easy to see how and precisely why Melbourne is definitely the sporting capital of the world and the reason why sports activity is unquestionably a part of the way of life around Australia.