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Sporting capital of the world?

Mulletperm

Mulletperm

Dean Austin
During a recent one day match over here in Oz they were discussing what was the sporting capital of the world, with them claiming that Melbourne was 'easily' the sporting capital.

This brought about a discussion in the office the next day with me arguing that London was easily the sporting capital.

  • Wembley
  • Lords
  • Wimbledon
  • Olympics
  • Twickenham
  • Marathon

What do you lot think? Interesting to hear Superted's opinion ;)
 
Mulletperm said:
During a recent one day match over here in Oz they were discussing what was the sporting capital of the world, with them claiming that Melbourne was 'easily' the sporting capital.

This brought about a discussion in the office the next day with me arguing that London was easily the sporting capital.

  • Wembley
  • Lords
  • Wimbledon
  • Olympics
  • Twickenham
  • Marathon

What do you lot think? Interesting to hear Superted's opinion ;)
Click to expand...

Thames Boat Race
World Darts Championships at Alexandra Palace
Golden athletics meetings
World Athletic Championships in 2017
 
Mulletperm said:
During a recent one day match over here in Oz they were discussing what was the sporting capital of the world, with them claiming that Melbourne was 'easily' the sporting capital.

This brought about a discussion in the office the next day with me arguing that London was easily the sporting capital.

  • Wembley
  • Lords
  • Wimbledon
  • Olympics
  • Twickenham
  • Marathon

What do you lot think? Interesting to hear Superted's opinion ;)
Click to expand...

As a South Australian, I'd sooner argue that Launceston was the sporting capital of the world than Melbourne. Victorians tend to think the earth spins on an axis with Melbourne at the apex and the rest of the sun and solar system revolving around it.

It's a joke. It may be the sporting capital of Australia, but until the rest of the world starts caring about AFL, then it would be leagues behind:

London
New York
Paris

Order up for negotiation.
 
I suspect the question the numbnuts answered was "What is the sporting capital of Australia?", as that is how insular many ex-sportsmen are over here. However, in saying that Melbourne lays claim to some significant sporting events/venues so cannot be discounted on the world stage but as answered by others it certainly isn't top of the list. These events/venues do put it somewhere up there though:

MCG
Australian GP
Australian Open Tennis
Australian Masters Golf (in recent years)
Rugby Union internationals
Rugby League team
Melbourne Cup & Many other valuble Horse Races

A fairly impressive list but nothing like London or Paris.
 
Basingstoke.

Basingstoke Town FC
Basingstoke Rugby Club
Basingstoke Bison Ice Hockey
Basingstoke Athletics Club

Thinking of it, I think they all need to get a bit more original with their names!
 
The Oval
Queens club
Epsom Derby (London day out)
Three Olympics
Hackney Marshes
White Hart Lane
8 other Teams played in the EPL.
 
New York merits strong consideration

Pro sports:

Major League Baseball - Mets and Yankees each play 81 regular season games - 162 total plus possible playoff games.

NFL football - Jets and Giants each play two pre-season and eight regular season games - 20 in total, plus possible playoff games. The clubs' joint home, Met Life Stadium, hosted this year's Super Bowl and will host future high-profile US college football games.

NBA basketball - Knicks and Nets each play 3-4 pre-season plus 41 regular season games - about 90 in total, plus possible playoff games.

NHL hockey - Rangers, Islanders and NJ Devils(Newark) each play 3-4 pre-season plus 41 regular season games - about 135 in total, plus possible playoffs.

Major League Soccer - NY Red Bulls play minimum of 20 games, plus possible playoffs. NY has also hosted World Cup games in '94 and has been and will be host to many high-profile club and international friendlies.

Tennis - US Open annually at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Horse Racing - Annual Triple Crown event, The Belmont, at Belmont Park, Lon Gilsland
- Weekly harness racing at Yonkers and The Meadowlands, thoroughbreds at Belmont and Aqueduct.

Golf - US Open and PGA major tournaments have been played on Long Island, at Bethpage Black course, and in nearby New Jersey at Baltusrol.

Top flight university sports - basketball, football, hockey, soccer - with several major schools incl. St. John's, Rutgers, Princeton, Columbia, Seton Hall, Hofstra, Fordham, Montclair and the US Army Academy at West Point among the two dozen or so in the area.

You've got well over 400 major professional league game days-nights annually, in state-of-the-art venues, plus a wide spectrum of university sports, country club sports and horse racing.
 
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New York is the dominant US Sport city with multiple teams for each of the big 4 professional sorts in America, but with the exception of Basketball which is popular in Europe and China those sports are pretty limited to North America.

London obviously has elite Football teams, the home of Cricket and Tennis and the worlds biggest marathon. I think the main global sports London is missing are Basketball and Motor Racing, is The Open (golf) ever played in London?
 
I have always thought these sort of titles a bit like which is the Greatest city London or Paris are pointless and for politicians and the like to get worked up over.

London has a lot of professional sports clubs and events going and while that is great I think the point should be made that the is not enough in the way of sporting facilities for the general public and what the is is not to a great standard.

Till the Olympics am I right to believe that London did not even have an Olympic length swimming pool other then the depleted one at Crystal Palace.

I wonder where the greatest sporting city in the world is for the general public participating in sports??
 
excellent question JGL, I think Australia would be able to hold it's hand up pretty high when it comes to public sporting and/or recreational facilities. As an example I live in a suburb on the Gold Coast called Runaway Bay, population of the suburb probably around 35k (GC overall is only about 600k), and within 20 minute walk of my house I have the following:

7 full size council owned football pitches
1 full size athletics field owned by the council
3 Rugby League pitches , 2 council and 1 local club owned
2 full cricket pitches, 1 council, 1 local club
1 Sports centre with football pitch, running track, rugby pitch and an olympic size swimming pool, owned by Queensland Education
1 2.5km cycling track, council owned

Within 30 minute drive we have 2 further olympic size swimming pools, 1 velodrome and a multitude of football/rugby/cricket/AFL pitches available.

The biggest thing is when I say they are council owned, it means they are kept in immaculate condition, maintained regularly, re-seeded or turfed annually. they are available for use by any schools or amateur clubs as a priority, and are open to the public the rest of the time.

I know we have more space here but I have to admit they use green space exceptionally well.
 
Richie said:
New York is the dominant US Sport city with multiple teams for each of the big 4 professional sorts in America, but with the exception of Basketball which is popular in Europe and China those sports are pretty limited to North America.

London obviously has elite Football teams, the home of Cricket and Tennis and the worlds biggest marathon. I think the main global sports London is missing are Basketball and Motor Racing, is The Open (golf) ever played in London?
Click to expand...

Cricket is as regional as the American sports. Tennis is bigger, but is Tennis a bigger sport internationally than Basketball? Marathon is kinda whatever between London and New York isn't it, not exactly a massive sport anyway imo.

If it's London it's almost certainly primarily because of football. I wonder if some objective number could be found for this, attendance number in total for sporting events hosted in that city, or viewers on television, or total wages of professionals in various sports etc...
 
Thebarbarian said:
excellent question JGL, I think Australia would be able to hold it's hand up pretty high when it comes to public sporting and/or recreational facilities. As an example I live in a suburb on the Gold Coast called Runaway Bay, population of the suburb probably around 35k (GC overall is only about 600k), and within 20 minute walk of my house I have the following:

7 full size council owned football pitches
1 full size athletics field owned by the council
3 Rugby League pitches , 2 council and 1 local club owned
2 full cricket pitches, 1 council, 1 local club
1 Sports centre with football pitch, running track, rugby pitch and an olympic size swimming pool, owned by Queensland Education
1 2.5km cycling track, council owned

Within 30 minute drive we have 2 further olympic size swimming pools, 1 velodrome and a multitude of football/rugby/cricket/AFL pitches available.

The biggest thing is when I say they are council owned, it means they are kept in immaculate condition, maintained regularly, re-seeded or turfed annually. they are available for use by any schools or amateur clubs as a priority, and are open to the public the rest of the time.

I know we have more space here but I have to admit they use green space exceptionally well.
Click to expand...

In that case then i think we have a winner and it is you sir. Someone was moaning the other day about the state of park football pitches in this country the other day, and probably rightly so.

Wish we took sport more seriously and provided more facilities for the public.
 
Having lived in both London and Melbourne for five years in each, my take on the London v Melbourne debate is this.

In London it is damn near impossible to get to Twickenham and Wimbledon. EPL games can also be hard unless you're happy to watch Fulham v Palace.

In Melbourne you can get tickets on the day for the Austrailian Open, F1 Grand Prix and most other events. The stadiums are also within 15 minutes walk from the city centre.

Cost wise it is also noticably cheaper viewing live sport in Melbourne. F1 is $50, tennis ground pass (i.e. not centre court $30, average AFL game $50). $50 is about 30 quid.

Of course for me sport is football so the rest are a huge second best but for a wider sports fan I'd say Melbourne holds its own on a global stage. The MCG really does work well for a 90,000 seater stadium. The Etihad in Docklands is also right next to the CBD and holds 50,000 with a roof.

Sydney by comparison has its major stadium out in the middle of nowhere and is a relic from the 2000 Olympics. SCG is nice and the football/rugby stadium next to it is average at best.
 
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