THE man hoping to hit a home run for the Gold Coast’s Commonwealth Games bid says the Sunshine Coast will need to work hard to share a slice of the expected $2 billion windfall.

Former Australian baseball captain Mark Peters, the CEO of the 2018 Commonwealth Games bid, told a packed business lunch yesterday that the event would create about 30,000 jobs.

But Mr Peters said it was not a fait accompli that the Gold Coast would win the rights to the event, with powerful Chinese interests behind the bid by Hambantota in Sri Lanka.

The Chinese are building a port that ultimately could become a naval base against India.

Mr Peters said Sri Lanka was pitching its bid on the basis that it would help it emerge from the devastating tsunami and come out of civil war.

It has been backed by a massive public relations blitz by a British firm.

“We are up against emotion and we are up against PR, PR and PR,” Mr Peters said.

Mr Peters said there were enormous opportunities for the Sunshine Coast to become a training venue before the Games, as well as hosting events like basketball finals.

The lunch was put on by the Maroochydore Chamber of Commerce and Sunshine Coast Sports Federation to look at ways of maximising the Coast’s economic benefits from sporting events.

Already Maroochydore, Alexandra Headland and Mooloolaba surf clubs, together with the council, are bidding for the right to host the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships.

The event attracts about 8000 athletes, 10,000 supporters and injects about $40 million into the local economy each carnival.

Coast sporting icon Benny Pike said such events were vital not just for the economy but for the Coast’s myriad rising sports stars, including 14-year-old swimmer Remy Fairweather.

Remy was a guest at yesterday’s lunch.