The inaugural National Rugby League Auckland Nines delivered more than $9 million in economic benefit to Auckland.
The Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development has released an economic impact statement on the tournament at Eden Park, which brought together the 16 NRL clubs for one weekend in mid-February, showing more than double the forecast return on investment, with $9.35 million in GDP going to Auckland.
6,000 Australians were attracted from across the Tasman, plus a further 16,000 locals from around New Zealand - all of whom stayed an average of three nights in Auckland, delivering more than 68,000 visitor nights for Auckland's accommodation sector.
More than a million television viewers watched proceedings from Australia.
