Gold Coast’s bold plan to steal NRL Magic Round from Brisbane

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate will use a trip to Las Vegas with NRL chairman Peter V’Landys to launch an audacious bid poach the code’s Magic Round.

Ruth and Tom Tate in Las Vegas for the NRL.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has unveiled audacious plans to snatch the prized NRL Magic Round from Brisbane.

Cr Tate revealed the bold bid from Las Vegas where he is attending the blockbuster NRL season opener as a guest of Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’Landys.

He said he was using the opportunity to make a shock play for Magic Round after Brisbane’s rights to host the annual footy feast expire in 2027, as part of an aggressive push to lure major sporting events to the Gold Coast ahead of the 2032 Olympics.

“I was invited here by Peter (V’Landys) and I’ll be one-on-one with him to see if we can do a Magic Round on the Gold Coast,” he told the Sunday Mail in an exclusive interview from the world’s original ‘Glitter Strip’.

“I’ll be reminding him that during Covid, we had most of the rugby league (NRL) teams based and playing on the Gold Coast when you couldn’t do it in the southern states.

“The infrastructure is in place and I’ll be cheering for that (a Coast-based Magic Round) to happen. It’s a shame Brisbane’s not here in Vegas, because what happens when you’re the only one here is that you’re the centre of attention.”

Brisbane has had a stranglehold on Magic Round since its debut at Suncorp Stadium in 2019 and has jealously guarded the money-spinning mega-event against attempted poaching raids by rival southern cities.

Mayor Tom Tate wants to steal Magic Round from Brisbane.

The former Miles government last year fended off hostile bids from would-be Magic Round suitors including a cashed-up Western Australia to keep the event at Suncorp Stadium until 2027.

The three-year contract extension came as latest figures showed Magic Round pumped more than $40m a year into the local economy, with 150,000 fans packing Brisbane for the weekend footy festival each May.

But Cr Tate said he had his eyes on the Magic Round prize as part of a pitch for major national and international sporting events on the Coast.

It follows his brash bid to poach the 2032 Olympic swimming events from Brisbane, sparking a war of words this week with Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner.

In a cheeky swipe at his Brisbane counterpart, Cr Tate said he had personally attended last year’s Paris Olympics and Paralympics to meet world sports powerbrokers.

“I didn’t see Adrian there,” he said.

“For whatever reason, I was told he deemed it too politically hot for a Lord Mayor going there. My attitude is, you put the city first and the outcome will wash away any political criticism.

“It’s all about advocacy. In Paris, I took the opportunity to be there and meet with the heads of sporting bodies from around the world, and I predict that as we head towards 2032, we will have world championships of various sports on the Gold Coast.

“Building relationships is not about ‘hi, how are you’ it’s about meeting them (sports bosses) over and over again.”

The multi-millionaire mayor said he was self-funding his trip to Vegas as a holiday but was using the opportunity to rub shoulders with Australian and international sports powerbrokers, including Los Angeles Olympics chairman Casey Wasserman.

Cr Tate said it was part of his strategy to lure international sporting teams to the Coast to base themselves and train before and after the 2032 Games.

He said he was also having lunch with a key US politician but could not say who for security reasons.

“I’ll have one eye on the rugby league in Vegas and the other on how I can promote the Gold Coast,” he said.

The Gold Coast was slated to host 14 Olympic and Paralympic sports in 2032 but has widened its wishlist in a submission to the Crisafulli government’s 100-day review of Games infrastructure, results of which will be released on March 25.

The Gold Coast City Council this week signed off on a 20-year masterplan to upgrade Carrara Stadium to help it host more major sporting events and concerts.

Originally published as Gold Coast’s bold plan to steal NRL Magic Round from Brisbane