FINA World Swimming Championships: Victorian Government paid $9.1 million to host

In another case of Victoria saving a sport in financial turmoil, taxpayers shelled out over $9 million to host the FINA world championships.

Victorian taxpayers shelled out $9.1m for this week’s FINA world championships in Melbourne in yet another case of the government saving a sport in financial turmoil.

Just two months after the Dan Andrews government came to the rescue of Netball Australia with a $15m deal via Visit Victoria in the wake of the Gina Rinehart sponsorship saga, the same department has shelled out to bankroll the swimming titles.

The event, which has been largely been held in front of small crowds, has been hailed by Swimming Australia as the “deal of the century” for a sport that is still reeling from the departure of Rinehart as their financial saviour.

A copy of a draft contract for the event between Swimming Australia and Visit Victoria obtained by News Corp reveals the millions spent by taxpayers while any profits are pocketed by the sport.

Under the deal, Visit Victoria paid $9.1 million, while Swimming Australia pockets any profits. Picture: NCA NewsWire.

SA president Michelle Gallen confirmed the deal with Visit Victoria was the only reason Australia secured the titles and would help boost the SA bottom line after posting a $2.2m deficit in the last financial year.

“Who we got the deal of the century from was Visit Victoria,” she said.

“There was no ink dry until we had the local partner here willing to come in and help us out.

“Visit Victoria, essentially they are sponsoring the event so they don’t stand to gain anything from its success, except obviously visitor nights and bed nights and the showcasing of Melbourne.

“It’s not going to be a saviour for us, but it’s not going to be a bank breaker for us, either.

“It was never really with a view to making a whole ton of money, it was again more with that view of the opportunity for our athletes to compete on home soil and our crowds to see their athletes locally again.”

An Andrews government spokesman responded, saying the event is a good move for Victoria.

“The FINA World Short Course Championships continues a stellar year for Victoria’s major events calendar and all eyes will be on Melbourne as we host some of the biggest names in world swimming.

“This event strengthens our reputation for hosting major international sporting events.”

In late October, Andrews and Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan announced a $15m sponsorship deal to help save Netball. Picture: AAP.

Hancock Prospecting ended their near decade-long association with Swimming Australia (SA) in 2021, instead opting to directly fund swimmers after a fallout with SA’s administration.

SA hastily secured the world championships earlier this year after FINA withdrew the hosting rights from Russia after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

But in order to get the deal down, financially strapped Swimming Australia needed a partner who would fund the organising of the championships.

Enter Visit Victoria.

Draft contract documents show Visit Victoria paid SA $9.1m to stage the event, with the final payment due next year.

The payments included $2.5 million for executing the deal and making a media announcement in Melbourne involving Premier Andrews.

Further payments included $2 million for establishing the steering committee, $2 million for finalising the ticketing and marketing plans and $1.75 million for the final plan, including content for digital, broadcast and in-stadia purposes.

Originally published as FINA World Swimming Championships: Victorian Government paid $9.1 million to host