Brisbane to host 2017 Rugby League World Cup Final

BRISBANE’S Suncorp Stadium will play host to the 2017 Rugby League World Cup final and at least one semi-final.

Brisbane will host another World Cup final.

BRISBANE will host the 2017 Rugby League World Cup final and one of the two semi-finals.

On the day after Western Australia announced its 2019 State of Origin match coup, The Courier-Mail can reveal Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium will stage the December 2, 2017 final.

It is the second successive Rugby League World Cup final available to Australia to be held in the stadium, and the State Government believes it shows it does want to be a serious player in the major sports event market.

The State Government and Tourism and Events Queensland will also soon escalate talks for Brisbane to host the 2019 NRL grand final while Sydney’s ANZ Stadium is redeveloped.

Cairns and Townsville will host three World Cup pool matches each, including a double-header each, when the tournament starts in October, 2017.

The State Government and TEQ see greater tourism value in paying to host events such as the 2019 NRL grand final and the 2017 World Cup, which will bring many thousands of supporters of England and Wales to Australia.

Suncorp previously hosted the 2008 World Cup final.

Suncorp Stadium’s 52,500 capacity means these matches offer more benefit to the Queensland hotel and entertainment industries than an Origin match dominated by ticket buyers who live in the southeast.

Tourism and Major Events Minister Kate Jones said Queensland had scored the major games of the World Cup, reinforcing the State’s standing as the home of rugby league.

It is not known ahead of Tuesday’s official draw in Brisbane whether the city’s semi-final at Suncorp Stadium, which has a capacity crowd for the 2008 World Cup final, will be scheduled to involve Australia or not.

“This is a major coup for the state and will focus the attention of millions of rugby league fans on Queensland,” Jones said.

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“The games at Suncorp are expected to sell out attracting tens of thousands of interstate and international visitors and generate up to 120,000 visitor nights for Queensland.

“The World Cup’s biggest games (will) drive visitation, supports jobs and fosters pride in our state.”

Townsville’s 1300 Smiles Stadium will host a pool-stage clash between Fiji and the United States, and a double header pitting a European qualifying team against the US, and Fiji against a European qualifier.

Cairns will host a double-header including an all-European match and a Scotland-Tonga match, plus a stand-alone Samoa-Scotland encounter.

Regional Queensland attracted strong crowds during the 2008 tournament.

The NRL signed an agreement with the WA Government to play the second Origin match of the 2019 series at Perth’s new 60,000 stadium without giving the Queensland and NSW Governments the chance to bid for the third game of the 2019 series.

With Melbourne to host a game in 2018, Brisbane and Sydney will stage only one match each in both 2018 and 2019.

Sports industry sources estimate the WA Government may have had to pay as much as $8 million to win the contract, but Brown said the figure was not that much.

Barnett said the hire fee for the match was “several millions of dollars’’.

NRL commercial manager Michael Brown said major sports “use key showcase games’’ to build its popularity.

“The clinics the players will do (in Perth), the week of celebration it will be for the game in Perth with the teams in camp for a week will be great for the game,’’ Brown said.

The WA Government believes it can lure at least 20,000 visitors from Queensland and NSW to watch Perth’s 2019 State of Origin rugby league match to cash in on its investment.