Melbourne is notable as the host city for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games (the first Olympic Games held in the southern hemisphere, with all previous games held in Europe and the United States), along with the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The city is home to three major annual international sporting events: the Australian Open (one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments); the Melbourne Cup (horse racing); and the Australian Grand Prix (Formula One). Melbourne was proclaimed the "World's Ultimate Sports City", in 2008, for the second time. The city is home to the National Sports Museum, which until 2003 was located outside the members pavilion at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It reopened in 2008 in the Olympic Stand.
Australian rules football and cricket are the most popular sports in Melbourne. It is considered the spiritual home of the two sports in Australia. The first official cricket Test match was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877. The first recorded Australian rules football match was played in Melbourne in 1858. The Australian Football League is headquartered at Docklands Stadium. Nine of the League's teams are based in the Melbourne metropolitan area. Up to five AFL matches are played each week in Melbourne, attracting an average 40,000 people per game. Additionally, the city annually hosts the AFL Grand Final.
The city is home to many professional franchises/teams in national competitions including: cricket clubs Melbourne Stars, Melbourne Renegades and Victorian Bushrangers, which play in the Big Bash League and other domestic cricket competitions; football (soccer) clubs Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart, which play in the A-League competition; rugby league club Melbourne Storm which plays in the NRL competition; rugby union club Melbourne Rebels, which plays in the Super Rugby competition; netball club Melbourne Vixens, which plays in the trans-Tasman trophy ANZ Championship; basketball club Melbourne Tigers, which plays in the NBL competition; Bulleen Boomers and Dandenong Rangers, which play in the WNBL; ice hockey teams Melbourne Ice and Melbourne Mustangs, who play in the Australian Ice Hockey League; and baseball club Melbourne Aces, which plays in the Australian Baseball League. Rowing is also a large part of Melbourne's sporting identity, with a number of clubs located on the Yarra River, out of which many Australian Olympians trained.
In November 2008, it was announced that the Victorian Major Events Company had informed the Australian Olympic Committee that Melbourne was considering making bids for either the 2024 or 2028 Summer Olympics.
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