The NRL Magic Round will return to Brisbane in 2022, with the Queensland Premier this morning calling for negotiations to begin on a new lock-in contract to see the sunshine coast become the event’s permanent home.
Annastacia Palaszczuk said the NRL Magic Round had proven to be a unique, marque event which further enhanced Brisbane and Queensland’s great sporting reputation.
“I’m urging the NRL now to get round the table so we can draw up and sign off on a long-term contract to ensure it to continues to be staged here every year,” she said.
“The action packed, 3-day festival of league has brought thousands and thousands of people to Brisbane and booked out hotel rooms right across the city.
“Over 125,000 tickets have already been snapped up – nearly a quarter of those are from people outside Brisbane and 25,000 have been secured by intrastate and New Zealand visitors.”
She said that hosting all 16 NRL teams at Suncorp Stadium for Magic Round had been a recipe for success and securing it in Brisbane for yet another year demonstrated Queensland’s ability to host world-class sporting events.
“We developed the idea of Magic Round Brisbane in conjunction with Tourism and Events Queensland and Brisbane City Council, through the Brisbane Economic Development Agency,” the Premier said.
“The winning concept was always a no brainer.
“Queensland is the passionate home of rugby league and we were confident it would drive strong economic outcomes and great visitor numbers for our tourism sector.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said securing the NRL Magic Round Brisbane for another year was a fantastic result for Brisbane and a win for local businesses.
“I’m thrilled we can bring this blockbusting event back to Brisbane in 2022,” Cr Schrinner said.
“Having this event already locked into the calendar to return in 12 months’ time will boost the confidence of our local businesses as they can guarantee an economic boost from this event again in 2022.
“I encourage anyone who wants to come along in 2022 to consider staying a little longer and plan now to make a holiday out of it and enjoy all that Brisbane has to offer.”
The Premier said the event had pumped more than $20 million into Brisbane’s economy, with 109,000 hotel room nights booked.
“We expect about 25,000 visitors from intrastate and New Zealand to have travelled this weekend to Brisbane for the event and next year we hope this will be even greater turnout thanks to our strong COVID recovery.
“This means more people in hotel beds, eating out at our world-class restaurants and enjoying the many experiences on offer in Queensland’s capital, Brisbane,” she said.
