In the 2024 financial year, the trust spent at least $20 million on tennis-related upgrades, including work on the retractable roof at John Cain Arena and new plunge pools and ice baths for players at Rod Laver Arena, according to its annual report.
Last year it spent $45 million upgrading infrastructure across the precinct, including work to ensure Melbourne Park “continues to meet Grand Slam standards” and to support other year-round events.
Melbourne and Olympic Park host more than 500 events each year, including major concerts, rugby and football at AAMI Park, and National Basketball League and Super Netball matches at John Cain Arena.
Tennis Australia is also Melbourne Park’s largest tenant, billing it $68.7 million in rent and other expenses last year, the trust’s annual report shows.
Tennis Australia says the Open generated a “total spending stimulus” of $565.8 million last year and says economic support to the state will exceed $600 million this year.
KPMG chief economist Brendan Rynne said he supported the Open and was confident it would deliver a positive return on Victoria’s investment.
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But he warned that the economic assessment of the Open could be overstated if it included spending on the event by local Melbourne residents. They made up 63 percent of spectators last year and would have spent that money on hospitality, events or other expenses even if the Open hadn’t been held, he said.
The real economic boost came from those traveling to the Open from overseas (8 percent of spectators) and interstate (10 percent), he said.
Rynne said many of the benefits of the Open could not be captured in an economic assessment, including the burst of civic pride and optimism it had engendered among Melburnians.
“That positive feeling of knowing that we are one of the global destinations like London, Paris and New York; that we are held in the highest regard. There is a sense of goodwill and positivity associated with that,” he said.
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Rynne also said the Open helped Melbourne build its capacity and reputation to host other major and lucrative events, from the Grand Prix to Taylor Swift’s record-breaking three-night stint at the MCG in 2024.
An economic assessment of the 2025 event by Tennis Australia from research company IER found it resulted in 442,887 nights booked in Victoria hotels and generated 2722 full-time jobs.
The Melbourne Park Trust pays Victoria Police around $1.3 million a year to cover the cost of policing the Open and other events.
Other spending on this year’s event will include Transport Victoria operating around 5,000 extra tram journeys, 400 extra trains and 150 bus services for spectators during the three-week event.
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A State Government spokesman said the Open had generated $3.46 billion for the Victorian economy over the past decade by creating jobs, boosting tourism and promoting Melbourne to the world.
“We have invested nearly $1 billion in upgrading Melbourne Park and will continue to work with the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust to ensure their state-of-the-art venues will host a vibrant and diverse range of world-class events in the future, including the Australian Open,” they said.
Tennis Australia’s revenue from events and commercial deals, including with Victoria and other state governments, was $575 million last year – up from $370 million in 2019.
It received $19 million in government grants to support its actions in 2022, but has not disclosed this revenue stream in subsequent financial reports.
The Victorian Office of the Auditor-General said it will examine the state’s spending on major events in the 2026/27 financial year and look at whether the government can demonstrate economic and community benefits from its investment.
The Auditor-General last examined the issue in 2007 and found that major events “undoubtedly provided economic value to Victoria”, but called for a more rigorous assessment of events to ensure the levels of funding provided to events were justified by their likely benefits.
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