Boomers, Team USA to set attendance history in Melbourne

The Boomers and Team USA are set to create sporting history in Melbourne with the biggest basketball matches ever played in Australia — and some of the largest ever played. Tickets to the series are on the verge of selling out.

Aussie fans will be hoping to see Kevin Durant and Steph Curry on court. Picture: Getty

Melbourne is set to make basketball history with an Australia versus Team USA series next year on the brink of a sellout.

Organisers of a historic two match clash between the Boomers and US superstars from the NBA will today announce one match has already sold out and limited seats remain for the other.

More than 90,000 tickets have already been sold for the series, expected to attract 100,000 people to Marvel Stadium next August.

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Both games will be almost three times bigger than any basketball match ever played in Australia and some of the largest ever played.

Visit Victoria chef executive Peter Bingeman said the sellout crowds would boost the visitor economy, with many fans coming from interstate and overseas.

Ben Simmons could headline the Boomers squad. Picture: AP

“We knew that the matches between the Australian Boomers and the USA Basketball men’s team would be popular,’’ he said.

“But to have game two sold out so early is exciting to say the least.’’

All general admission tickets for the first match on August 22 have been sold and remaining seats for the final game on August 24 are selling fast.

The capacity for each game is 50,000 with fans rushing to see the likes of US stars LeBron James, Steph Curry and James Harden on Australian soil.

The biggest Aussie basketball crowd on record is an NBL clash in Sydney which drew 17,800 fans in 1999.

The largest basketball crowd ever was 108,713 for the NBA All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas in 2010.

Geoff Jones, chief executive of promoter TEG, said sales spoke to the “surging popularity of basketball across Asia and the remarkable nature of these two games’’.

“The Boomers against USA Basketball will be an event experience unlike any hosted before on Australian shores,’’ he said.

The ticket frenzy comes before fans even know who will be playing for Team USA.

The full US roster is not expected to be known until after the NBA season ends next June.

Australia is expected to field a full strength line up, fuelling hopes Victorian fans will see all nine Australian players now plying their trade in the NBA.

Victorians Ben Simmons, Dante Exum, Matthew Dellavedova and Ryan Broekhoff as well as Aussie NBA talent Joe Ingles and Patty Mills will be high on the wish list for fans.

It comes as Melbourne is set to host two more international basketball matches this year — FIFA World Cup qualifiers between Australia, Qatar and Iran.

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