In July, the latest version of the Sporting City Index by Burson Cohn & Wolfe saw Gold Coast jump 20 spots from 46th to 26th, helped partly by Queensland securing the 2032 Olympic Games for Brisbane, which is less than an hour away.

Gold Coast City Council Mayor Tom Tate said the recent improvement in the city rankings gave Gold Coast a better chance of becoming a major player for sporting events.

"Our sporting economy is touching AUS $800 million a year," said Tate to Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"It's become a really strong economy and it ties in well with tourism and lifestyle."

Gold Coast 2018 injected AUS $2 billion (£1.18 billion/$1.38 billion/€1.35 billion) into the local economy after hosting the Games.

The city is expected to host major events at Brisbane 2032, with an Olympic Village potentially being in Robina too.

Gold Coast's population is also expected to increase by 51 per cent by 2036 to approximately 830,000 people.

It recently held sporting events such as the professional cruiserweight fight between home favourite Jai Opetaia and Mairis Briedi, while Supercross World Championship organiser SX Global recently moved its headquarters there.

Major Events Gold Coast chief executive Jan McCormick said her team had been working on bringing several events to the city in the future.

"This financial year we are going to be supporting approximately 60 major sporting events," said McCormick.

"We are going to bring events in the coming years that are suitable for this city, that are going to give it strong impact for this city.

"We have our eye on the prize. 

"As we get closer to the Olympics of course we would be hosting major national and international titles."