Melbourne to host football's International Champions Cup until at least 2018

The Victorian government has secured the rights to football's International Champions Cup (ICC) for a further three years, following the success of the 2015 tournament.

European heavyweights AS Roma, Real Madrid and Manchester City took part in three matches in Melbourne during July, which were watched live by a total of 221,262 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Football Federation Australia announced the news on Monday, after the deal was secured by the state's Sports Minister, John Eren.

Eren said the three-year deal could be worth as much as 110 million U.S dollars to the Victorian economy over three years.

"The Cup will be great for fans and great for businesses. Securing it will help grow tourism, jobs and showcase our state to the world," he said in a statement released on Sunday.

Eren said that more than half of all tickets to the three matches were sold to interstate or overseas visitors, strengthening the argument for bringing more high-profile soccer matches to Melbourne.

He said the success brought by this year's tournament would entice other heavyweight clubs and would further enhance the already-rich sporting calendar that Melbourne has.

"Victorians love big sporting events at the MCG - the crowds prove it. We're strengthening our major events calendar to keep our state strong," Eren said.

"The ICC will bring some of the best players on the planet to Victoria, to work their magic at the best stadium in the world."

News Corp reported that New South Wales attempted to lure the tournament to Sydney but Victoria was granted "exclusive" rights to host the ICC for the next three years.

The three matches played throughout July culminated in a record soccer crowd at the MCG for the final match, where 99,832 people crammed into the stadium to watch Real Madrid defeat Manchester City. Endit