Melbourne remains the 'Ultimate Sports City'

Melbourne has retained its status as the best location in the world to hold a sports event and has been declared Ultimate Sports City 2008.
According to results published in SportBusiness International, the 2006 Commonwealth Games host has come out on top again having previously been awarded the title 18 months ago. This time Melbourne has beaten Germany's capital city Berlin into second place and Sydney into third place. London, England has taken fourth place and Winter Olympics 2010 host Vancouver fifth for Canada.
Twenty-five cities were initially profiled overall and selected according to numbers and the importance of international and annual major sport events hosted or awarded between the period 2004-2012 and then scored based on a number of categories. Over 100 interviews were undertaken with government departments, city officials, event organisers, federations and industry specialists during the process of the analysis.
Rachael Church-Sanders, author of The Ultimate Sports City 2008: Strategies For Successful Event Hosting, says "Melbourne has retained the title of Ultimate Sports City based on a strong performance in most of the categories analysed, coming first in six categories and second in one other. Melbourne's robust list of annual major events, excellent sporting venues and strong government support combined with its successful hosting of the Commonwealth Games in 2006 are factors in the Australian city's prominence as a sporting host city."