Abstract:
On the journey of advancing the comprehensive development of a modern socialist nation, examining how sports events empower the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the Greater Bay Area) to achieve synergistic development-through their intrinsic logic, practical challenges, and breakthrough cases-carries strategic significance. This includes enriching the “one country, two systems” framework, fostering high-quality regional integration, constructing international exchange and cooperation platforms, and aligning with critical national agendas. This study reveals that sports events and the Greater Bay Area synergistic development mutually reinforce each other, crystallizing three distinct models: The multipolar diffusion model exemplified by the 15th National Games of the People’s Republic of China, the structural embedding model represented by the Greater Bay Area Event Series, and the ecological network model embodied by the Greater Bay Area Football Champion League. These models serve as pivotal mechanisms to address systemic regional barriers, counterbalance the dwindling influence of economic growth poles, and revitalize sustainable development momentum. To further unlock the potential of sports events, future efforts should focus on embedding them into cross-governmental agendas to forge a mutually beneficial world-class bay area; stimulating endogenous industrial innovation to cultivate a dynamic and high-quality bay area; harmonizing regional branding to shape an open and inclusive sporting gateway; and promoting green and low-carbon governance to build a livable, health-conscious, and beautiful bay area.