Brisbane 2032 Olympics: Toowoomba speaking with e-sports, rugby league, netball as part of opportunities

E-sports and rugby league at the Olympics? Sounds far-fetched, but they are the sports trying to get into the 2032 Brisbane games — and Toowoomba has been talking to them.

E-sports could be coming to the 2032 Olympics, and Toowoomba has been talking to representatives about how the city could become involved, along with other sports like rugby league and netball.

E-sports, rugby league and netball are some of the potential future Olympic events Toowoomba is exploring as opportunities ahead of the 2032 games — with some raising the eyebrows of Toowoomba Regional Council officers.

The latest Olympic Preparedness Project update report from Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise was presented to councillors on Wednesday and outlined the progress made by lead officer Mark Mason over recent months.

In the update, Mr Mason (pictured) said he had been in consultations with a number of stakeholders over the past few months.

Most notably, he said discussions had included figures from sports that could be included in the games in 2032 — including video gaming, or e-sports.

“(We’ve) initiated conversations with several sports not currently on the sport schedule for the Brisbane 2032 Games but with aspirations of inclusion to the games,” Mr Mason wrote.

“These sports include e-sports, skateboarding, rugby league and netball.

“Observations of the sporting landscape are ongoing and relationships with more sports are likely over time.

“All sports have indicated an interest in working with the region in the lead up to The games.”

The inclusion of e-sports led to confused reactions from some of the councillors in the room, with acting economic development officer Tony Bowman having to explain what it was.

“I don’t know exact details, but e-sports is filling stadiums worldwide and it’s online gaming,” he said.

“They literally go online and go against each other. It’s teams and countries playing in video games.

“Skateboarding was in the previous Olympics, so we’re looking to get that back again, along with our current favourable sports like rugby league, netball and e-sports.”

Planning and development general manager Stewart Somers remarked: “You could almost ask, gosh what’s next?”

Other updates in the report included ongoing discussions with local sporting organisations, continued talks with government staff specific to sport infrastructure and consultation with state and federal government departments.

Mr Mason wrote the region’s renewable energy capabilities for the games were becoming an emerging theme throughout discussions.

“Competitive tension in this market is strong and is anticipated to get stronger and as such the region needs to increase efforts to continue to secure inbound investment opportunities,” he wrote.

The council’s Olympic task-force is expected to be set up by next month.