Cape Town has won it’s bid to host the 2023 Netball World Cup. International Netball Federation (INF) president Molly Rhone made the announcement from the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Thursday morning – the proposed venue for the tournament.
South Africa, which will be the first country on the continent to host the event, beat out strong competition from Auckland, New Zealand, which was hoping to host the occasion to mark 100 years of its official participation in the sport.
The announcement is a major boost to Netball South Africa (NSA).
The federation lost the main sponsor of the domestic league, Brutal Fruit, and has struggled to resell its naming rights. With the arrival of a major sporting event, the hope is that corporates could reignite their interest in the local scene.
In the bid proposal submitted to the INF, the NSA and department of sport said it will cost R68-million to host the World Cup. Given that 120 000 visitors are expected, the economy would benefit from an injection of R2.5-billion it estimates.
