THE NEWCASTLE State of Origin clash is expected to bring with it more than $6 million in economic benefits in what council's chief executive Jeremy Bath called a huge coup for the city.
The NRL announced the sporting rivalry will make its debut in Newcastle next year, when Game 2 of the 2024 Women's series is played at McDonald Jones Stadium in June.
It's the result of a push from the mayors of Newcastle and Townsville to bring the women's representative series to the regional heartlands of rugby league.
Mr Bath said there's "no doubt" Newcastle has proven itself over the last five years as a city that's more than capable of hosting major sporting events.
"Newcastle as a city has been ready for a long time, we're only just now actually convincing the sporting bodies to put their faith in Newcastle," he said.
"There's no doubt there will be people travelling interstate, obviously down from Queensland and up from Victoria coming to this game, and that's fantastic because that means more people coming, more tourists, more people spending - our cafes and hotels are going to be full."
The mayors wrote a joint letter to the Australian Rugby League Commission in June calling for regular hosting rights for the top tier competition.
The Newcastle clash is part of an expended three-match series which will kick off at Suncorp Stadium on May 16.
Townsville will host the third match and potential decider for the Women's series on June 27, with the matches expected to draw significant crowds.
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said City of Newcastle is committed to attracting and hosting major events as a key economic and tourism driver for the region.
"Events deliver both an immediate and ongoing benefit for the community and our visitor economy, help to create local jobs and support local industries while continuing to highlight our city as an amazing tourism and events destination," she said.
This year's second Women's State of Origin match attracted a record crowd of more than 18,000 footy fans to Townsville, while more than 12,500 people packed the stands for Newcastle's semi-final match against Brisbane, setting a new NRLW record for a standalone women's fixture.
McDonald Jones Stadium venue manager Dean Mantle said there's no question the game will sell out.
"It's going to be a huge event, we saw such massive support for the semi final, not even just the the semi final, the crowds throughout the back end of the season at regular home games, 19,000, 17,000, numbers like that don't happen by chance," he said.
"It's a huge testament to those fans, it's coming here because of that support.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to host the very first NRLW State of Origin in Newcastle, and hopefully not the last."
Business Hunter chief executive Bob Hawes said it was pleasing to see Newcastle's capacity and capability to host large events is being recognised.
"The event will not only bring visitors to the region who will fly, train and drive here, many will stay overnight further boosting the benefit to the hospitality and visitor economy sectors," he said.
"These sectors were smashed during COVID and the more events we can attract across the region, the better it will be for their recovery.
"The economic impact from these events can be substantial and we shouldn't forget the flow on benefits that can accrue as a consequence of people coming back having been impressed with what they saw first time around."
Mr Hawes said the event will put the region and city in the spotlight and hopefully give other promoters and organisers the motivation to book major events.
The game kicks off in Newcastle June 6 with more details on ticket prices expected to become available as the clash drawers nearer.
