The International Cricket Council has overlooked Perth Stadium to host a finals fixture when the women's and men's Twenty20 World Cups are staged next year, on the same day the state government talked up the stadium as a key part of its tourism strategy.
The ICC’s fixture list released today has scheduled the women's tournament to be held between February 21 and March 8, and the men's from October 24 to November 15.
The 60,000 seat venue will host six games in the men’s tournament and five in the women’s, but none will be a final.
The men’s semi-finals will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground and Adelaide Oval, with the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Both of the women’s semi-finals will take place at the SCG and the final also at the MCG.
Typically referred to as Optus Stadium, all venues must forego their pre-existing naming right obligations with corporate entities in order to host an ICC tournament.
Despite the setback, tourism minister Paul Papalia said today that securing world-class events at Perth Stadium was a key part of Tourism WA's two-year action plan to grow the number of visitors to the state and diversify the economy.
"This winter, Perth is set to take the sporting capital crown off Melbourne,” Mr Papalia claimed.
“We have secured blockbuster sporting events for Optus Stadium including the State of Origin, AFL grand final rematch, Bledisloe Cup and of course the Manchester United visit."
Optus Stadium chief executive Mike McKenna said today more than two million fans have attended the venue in its first 12 months, attending 43 major events, as well as 420 meetings and special events and 1,450 stadium tours.
On the catering front, the stadium has placed $21.8 million in orders to food and beverage suppliers, including 68 per cent to WA based companies such as Mrs Mac's (which has sold 225,000 pastries) and Gage Roads Brewing Company (which has sold over 1 million litres of beer.
According to state government figures, the venue has attracted more than 120,000 visitors from outside of Perth, with AFL-associated visitation contributing more than $60 million to the state's economy.
England and India will both play in Perth during the T20 World Cups, with Mr Papalia seeking to capitialise on the tourism potential.
"Our plan to target these markets includes the London-Perth flights, which began last year, as well as working with the Indian airlines to establish direct flights and the appointment of a dedicated marketing representative in Mumbai.”
