The return of the Games and decision to throw open the city to thousands of masters athletes annually continues the stunning return of major sporting events to the Gold Coast and to Queensland after three years of cancellations and postponements.

It has also fuelled a drive to bring more sport and major events to the state’s south-east, building to the 2032 Olympics. And it bolsters the Golf Coast’s strategic bid to become a global sporting capital – after the city already jumped 20 places to be ranked 26 in the world according to the global sporting city index.

The Pan Pacific Masters Games injects more than $20 million into the Gold Coast economy and attracts around 16,000 athletes to the city.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said the 10-day event that kicked off across the weekend for the first time since 2018, would return yearly. “Pan Pacific will be here every year,” Tate said.
“Sport really excites and unites. On the Gold Coast, we are exciting and uniting.”

The 2022 event boasts more than 13,000 competitors across 42 sports.

The Pan Pacific Masters in 2018, the last time the event was held, was the Gold Coast’s third biggest sporting event behind the Gold Coast Marathon and the V8 Supercars events.

Pan Pacific Masters event chief executive Cam Hart said the organisation had been working towards increasing the frequency of the games.  “We’ve got some work to do,” Hart said.

“We’ve been working towards that plan, and to hear that the city is backing it 100 per cent is really exciting for us.”

Supercars also returned to Main Beach over the 28-30 October after it was put on hold since 2019 due to the pandemic.

It was the first street race outside of the Townsville 500 in July to be held since the Adelaide 500 in early 2020.

A record crowd of 200,232 packed the streets to watch the race, which was the biggest crowd at the Gold Coast since Supercars began promoting the event in 2012. Along with the bumper crowd numbers, the event injected more than $50 million into the city’s economy.