Australian Open, Boxing Day Ashes Test to witness full house after ease of Covid-19 restrictions in Melbourne

Australia’s Boxing Day Test against arch rivals England and next year’s Australian Open tennis will be played before a full house, Victoria state authorities said on Thursday as they removed more Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said from 11:59 p.m. (1259 GMT) on Thursday, there will no longer be any caps on gatherings in the state.

“Whether it’s 100,000 people at the MCG on Boxing Day or a smaller group of people standing up at the … local pub, this is the COVID-normal that every Victorian has built,” he said at a media briefing.

The eased restrictions will be welcomed by Australia’s major sports, which have taken significant hits to revenue due to crowd caps in Melbourne, the country’s second-largest city and Victoria state capital, through the pandemic.

The last Australian Open in February was limited to 30,000 people per day — about half of Melbourne Park’s usual capacity — before all fans were banned for five days due to a snap lockdown.

Last year’s Boxing Day Test between Australia and India had crowds capped at 30,000 per day at the 100,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The last Ashes test against England at the stadium in 2017 drew a crowd of more than 88,000 on Boxing Day alone.

Australia will face Joe Root’s England at the MCG from Dec. 26 during the upcoming five-Test Ashes series.

Victoria has progressively eased restrictions as COVID-19 vaccination rates have soared in recent weeks. Authorities expect 90% of people in the state aged over 12 will be fully vaccinated by the end of the week.