Sydney to transform into 24-hour party town during 2027 Rugby World Cup as NSW eyes law overhaul
NSW is ready to party with a ‘boost to confidence’ for small business after their Rugby World Cup win, while Victorians would be left scratching their heads after the ‘sports capitals’ botched bid.
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Victoria has blown hundreds of millions of dollars in its botched lobbying for Rugby World Cup 2027 matches, with Sydney to become a 24-hour party town during the six-week tournament that will revive local businesses.
Adelaide, Townsville, Newcastle, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne will all host games, but the Victorian government’s naive withdrawal from bidding late last year, followed by a hasty last-minute pitch, has seen them miss out on all quarter-final, semi-final and final hosting rights.
For the final three weeks of a tournament – that will be watched by 250 million fans around the world – the supposed sporting capital of Australia will not have a single game.
Meanwhile, Sydney will be rolling in cash as 250,000 tourists descend on Australia and most visit the harbour city, with early expectation that they’ll each spend a minimum of $4000 each.
The NSW government’s conservative estimate is that the state will reap $610 million during the World Cup. Conservative because when Japan hosted the 2019 World Cup and had 300,000 overseas visitors, they reported a staggering $8 billion boost to their economy.
The numbers will fluctuate wildly before and during the event, but what’s clear is that Melbourne literally dropped the ball and Sydney picked it up and ran away with it, just as William Webb Ellis supposedly did during a soccer match in 1823 to create the game of rugby.
And after Sydney crawled to a halt with lockout laws and draconian entertainment red tape killing the city’s night-life, the World Cup is set to revive the city into a bustling hub to rival New York, Berlin and Ibiza.
“I don’t think people realise just how big this will be, this will be a bigger and better event than ever and we’re really making the plans already to make sure Sydney welcomes visitors around the clock for a 24-hour festival to accompany this Rugby World Cup,” NSW Minister for Jobs and Tourism, John Graham, said.
“We’re looking at what rules we can change, and what we can do to make the most of this incredible sporting event.
“We know small hospitality businesses are doing it tough at the moment, they’re waiting for interest rates to fall. This is a massive boost to confidence, and it will make sure some of them will keep trading through, knowing there are better days ahead.”
As a comparison, the last time Australia hosted the World Cup in 2003, 65,000 overseas visitors attended, generating $400.4 million.
In 2027, the early forecast is for tourists to spend $1.3 billion in Australia across the tournament.
For the first time, this World Cup will be expanded from 20 to 24 nations, which will shorten the pool stages and introduce a FIFA style “round of 16” elimination playoff system.
Melbourne will get two of those games, as well as seven pool matches.
But Sydney and Brisbane will host all games from the start of the quarter-finals.
Brisbane’s two quarter-finals, two round of 16 games and six pool games at Suncorp Stadium, as well as Townsville’s four pool matches will generate millions for the Queensland government.
Adelaide’s five pool matches will be far more lucrative for South Australia than in 2003, when they hosted just two games.
Canberra has missed out altogether after the ACT Government submitted a low-ball offer.
The NSW Government has already relaxed some laws around operating hours and outdoor drinking, but it’s expected restrictions will be lifted en masse for venues across Sydney during the entirety of the World Cup to capitalise on the tourism dollar.
Destination NSW chair Sally Loane said the estimated $610 million for the state is likely to be much more by the time the tournament rolls into town.
“We are saying several hundred million, but that’s an estimate,” Loane said.
“If people come here for six weeks and make Sydney their base, travel to Newcastle, travel to other cities around Australia, they’re going to come back here, and they’re going to be spending money in our environment.
“And I think we’ve estimated that people will spend on average about four grand per person during all of that time, which is probably a little bit of an underestimate. So it could be even more.”
Tournament director Chris Stanley said the new structure would mean a wider group of tourists will be travelling to Australia.
“The knockout phase starts earlier, which is great,” Stanley said. “The knockout matches in France (in RWC 2023), they were 98 per cent attendees, so from round of 16, quarter-finals, semis, I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for us.
“It just means that there’s more fans to come into our country. We’ve got four more nations. That qualification process hasn’t finished (the full draw will be announced in December).
“We don’t know where they’re coming from. But the more fans and the more people we can bring into our country is great.
“We went from 48 to 52 matches. It just gives us even longer to celebrate this sport.”
Minister Graham, who is also Minister for the Arts, Music and Night-time Economy, is expecting a flow-on bonanza as rugby tourists take in Sydney’s theatre, opera and concert scene while visiting.
Originally published as Sydney to transform into 24-hour party town during 2027 Rugby World Cup as NSW eyes law overhaul
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