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Cape Town set for 3-year Sevens extension?

Cape Town - It looks as though Cape Town is well on its way to securing three more years of HSBC Sevens World Series rugby. 

This comes after the City of Cape Town's mayoral committee recommended on Thursday that Council approve the three-year agreement concluded between the City and the South African Rugby Union for the Mother City to host the tournament from 2016 to 2018.

Council will now consider the recommendation. 

"Locally, the event was fondly known as the Cape Town Sevens and the inaugural event held in 2015 proved to be a resounding success," the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Economic Development, Councillor Eddie Andrews said. 

"Over the two days, 106 245 spectators packed the Cape Town Stadium to enjoy some fast-paced action on the field. 

"These numbers translated into an estimated R539 million economic injection into local coffers. We look forward to once again hosting capacity crowds at our world-class stadium." 

The spectator profile was made up of 34% from Cape Town (local), 21% from the Western Cape excluding Cape Town, 22% from the rest of South Africa, and 23% from other countries. 

The average total visitor spend was R122 million spent by international fans, R154 million by domestics fans, R44 million by locals and about R3 million by the visiting teams.

"We need to look at this in perspective, which is the overall benefit to the local economy, the recreational value for spectators, the international destination profiling opportunities, and the gees and community-building that the event bring," said Andrews.

"As the City, we are pleased at the return on investment which assists us to strengthen our narrative that Cape Town is a place to live, work and play. It therefore was no surprise when the players and team management voted Cape Town as their favourite host city." 

The numbers were determined by using the 2016/17 financial model as a base and applying a 6% parameter increase.

In addition, the projected costs for 2017/18 and 2018/19 are based on the current event footprint for 2016/17. Should this event footprint change, an amended financial outcome report of these three events will be submitted to Council. 

All revenue for the event accrues to the South African Rugby Union, with no profit sharing with the City of Cape Town. The City is sponsoring event-related costs to the value of more than R2 million.

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