Maitland’s campaign to get on the Monopoly map went national on Sunday through an appeal on breakfast TV.
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Weekend Today, the Channel Nine breakfast show, interviewed Mercury journalist Jessica Brown about the paper’s push to get Maitland on the new world edition of the board game.
Up until March 9 people can vote for Maitland to be the wild card entry on the new game and join 22 of the world’s most prominent locations on the board.
Maitland is vying for the wild card spot and is calling on the help of all cities and towns that share the Maitland name.
“It will be great if all the people who live in the various Maitlands get on board. We need the support of others who just love Maitland,” Ms Brown said.
The Mercury launched the campaign with a front-page article on Friday and the idea of getting a regional city on to the Monopoly board piqued the interest of both Hasbro, the board game maker, and the Today Show.
“I was so excited to talk everything Maitland to a national audience,” Ms Brown said.
“We have a great city and it is about time we made it onto the international map, even if it is the Monopoly one.”
Ms Brown’s interview with host Cameron Williams touched on all things Maitland, from its architecture, proximity to the vineyards and even Maitland Toyota Steamfest, which it turned out Williams was a big fan of along with the Hunter’s famous wines.
“The Weekend Today crew were amazing and really supportive of the idea of getting Maitland on the board,” Ms Brown said.
“When the cameras switched off many of the behind-the-scenes people came up to me to chat because they were also from the Hunter.”
Maitland City Council’s Mayor, Cr Peter Blackmore is also right behind the campaign.
“I think it is fantastic,” Cr Blackmore, said.
“Several parts of Maitland already fit on the Monopoly board. We have a station, a town centre, a jail and we have several banks. We deserve a spot.”
Titled Monopoly Here and Now the world edition will be released in September to mark the board game’s 80th anniversary.
As players race around the board collecting passport stamps, they can also buy places and charge visitor fees when opponents land on their locations.
The first player to fill their passport wins.
Residents are encouraged to head online to www.votemonopoly.com from tomorrow and vote for Maitland to be included.
Votes can also be shared on social media by using the hashtags #VoteMONOPOLY and #Maitland4Monopoly.
At the end of the voting week, on March 9, the destination and city with the most votes will take the last two brown spaces on the new game board and hopefully one will say Maitland.