Zambia's Lushomo Mweemba celebrates the first goal of the match during the Women's World Cup Group C soccer match between Costa Rica and Zambia in Hamilton. Photo / AP
Zambia's Lushomo Mweemba celebrates the first goal of the match during the Women's World Cup Group C soccer match between Costa Rica and Zambia in Hamilton. Photo / AP
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup gave Hamilton’s economy a welcome boost.
The whole country saw huge success across key measures, the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment New Zealand reported in its impact evaluation report.
The agency’s events manager, Kylie Hawker-Green, said the on-field action captivated the nation, with more than 60 per cent of Kiwis watching a match, and the report showed the economic returns were even greater than forecast.
The report showed a strong overall economic return with a net benefit of $109.5 million, and a benefit-cost ratio of 1.34 was identified, meaning for every $1 put in, New Zealand saw a return of $1.34.
Hamilton Mayor, Paula Southgate, said “the social, economic, and reputational benefits” of those types of events for Hamilton City could not be overlooked.
Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate said the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 put Hamilton square on the map. Photo / Mike Walen, KeyImagery
“We worked really hard in partnership with the other hosting centres in New Zealand and Australia to attract FIFA to Australasia, and we won the bid. Not only was the event in Hamilton hugely successful, it attracted people from all around New Zealand and the world, putting Hamilton squarely on the map,” Southgate said.
“These economic results build on New Zealand’s successful track record of hosting large scale events and continue to show the benefits both on and off the field of hosting women’s sport events,” Hawker-Green said.
Twenty-nine matches were hosted in New Zealand with more than 740,000 tickets issued, and about 170,000 visits to FIFA Fan Festival sites in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, and Dunedin were made.
“The event was welcome news to our tourism industry as it attracted almost 27,000 people to New Zealand, generating over 312,000 international visitor nights across the country, with an average stay of 11.6 nights.
Tourists who arrived for the event spent $80.4 million on accommodation, meals, transport, and shopping across the country.
The report also showed the event had altered New Zealand’s perception of women in sport, adding to the country’s proud history of advocating for gender equality and since July 2022, viewership of women’s sport has increased by 29 per cent.
“The event adds to the trifecta of successful Women’s World Cups hosted in New Zealand over the past two years, with Rugby and Cricket in 2022 and now Football in 2023. Hosting these three events was a deliberate strategy to elevate and showcase women’s sport in New Zealand,” Hawker-Green said.
“The FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 was the largest and most successful women’s sporting event ever, exceeding expectations on and off the field. It captured the hearts of the nation, elevated women’s football and sport more generally while cementing New Zealand’s global reputation as an exceptional major event host.”
The impact evaluation report was conducted by the Independent Research Agency.
Malisha Kumar is a multi-media journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakatāne.
