Victoria 2026 - Commonwealth Games

[AustralianFan]

This twitter update report on the Birmingham 2022 athletics track and temporary grandstands is likely how we can imagine the same set-up at Mars Stadium in Ballarat which is tipped to be the track and field venue at the 2026 Games.

The lane markings about to be added.  You can see also the temporary grandstands starting to be erected.

Ballarat, here we come!

 

[AustralianFan]

The Aussies have arrived in Birmingham to talk about Victoria 2026

 

[RooBlu]

10 hours ago, AustralianFan said:

This twitter update report on the Birmingham 2022 athletics track and temporary grandstands is likely how we can imagine the same set-up at Mars Stadium in Ballarat which is tipped to be the track and field venue at the 2026 Games.

The lane markings about to be added.  You can see also the temporary grandstands starting to be erected.

Ballarat, here we come!

 

We won't get ahead of ourselves. All will be revealed if the government decide to go ahead with the 2026 games next month. There could be some surprises with venues. I wouldn't rule out Kardinia Park for athletics at this stage.

[Victorian]

Very exciting development!

[SportLightning]

3 hours ago, Victorian said:

Very exciting development!

Yep, That a lot.

[RooBlu]

This projects an idea of how much land they have to work with in terms of building at Mars Stadium and the impact of the track on the existing oval. The Southern toilets and Gate 2 were built only last year (2021) and a new Gate 1 with catering kiosk booths are shown under construction (Now completed) in this shot lower right. If it were to host athletics there is a lot of scope to erect scaffold stands on the hill and to the South. When the stadium was constructed the eight row Eastern Stand (Bottom right) was designed to have its roof removed and an additional 14 rows added to permanently boost its seating from approximately 1000 to 3200. I could honestly see the government biting the bullet and funding the demolition of the North Ballarat Social Club (Right) and replacing it and its seven hundred seats with a much larger corporate focussed stand capable of seating 3000. If the stadium gets the nod to host the athletics, it's likely that we will see permanent seating at the ground expanded by 6000 and after the games the existing hill would be re-instated and a new hill constructed to the South to accommodate another 3000.

First cab off the rank would be to replace the stadium's anaemic lighting. The lighting at Mars Stadium has been roundly criticised by AFL coaches, the A-League and TV Commentators. The Ballarat Council got the message loud and clear in 2018 when a twilight AFL game in July saw Ballarat's Winter weather unleash in all it's glory as the game was smashed by winds, hail, sleet and rain. The commentators and coaches couldn't see the other side of the field despite the fact that eight temporary sports flood lights were put in to supplement the stadium's lighting. It was highly embarrassing for Ballarat and the media in Melbourne went to town rounding against it. The Council have submitted requests to State and Federal political parties to fund $3.5 million in the forthcoming elections to replace the four existing 37 metre towers (300 lux output) with four 50 metre towers equipped with LED lights capable of illuminating the arena to 1000 lux. They knew exactly how much to ask for because that is exactly what it is costing to erect similar towers at Ikon Park in Carlton and at the VU Whitten Oval in Footscray. It's not possible to simply upgrade the existing four towers as they have a capacity for 36 lights each and if fully rigged they would still only achieve between 500-600 lux. And being only 37 metres high, there is a lot of light interference directly at TV cameras mounted in the stand.

The legacy of the games would leave the ground with approximately 11,000 undercover seats and standing room for several thousand and a capability to host night cricket, rugby, soccer and AFL football. It would be on par with Manuka Oval in Canberra.

The image below is from early 2019 before the hill was half concreted and new toilets and entrances were built to the left of shot:

[Australian Kiwi]

I have it from a fairly reliable source that all athletics events will be staged in Ballarat (including road based events), in addition to boxing and cricket (unsure whether this is at City or Eastern).

Kardinia is ceremonies and possibly Rugby 7s.  

Possibility that the only event to be staged in Melbourne will be track cycling (John Cain Arena).

[Australian Kiwi]

On 3/12/2022 at 1:08 PM, TorchbearerSydney said:

Maybe a trditional owner, an Aboriginal elder could accept the flag for Victoria.....would be nice symbolism

But from which RAP? There are dozens across the host regions. 

I think the Governor is the right choice. She is currently in Birmingham meeting with the CGF.

[AustralianFan]

4 hours ago, RooBlu said:

This projects an idea of how much land they have to work with in terms of building at Mars Stadium and the impact of the track on the existing oval. The Southern toilets and Gate 2 were built only last year (2021) and a new Gate 1 with catering kiosk booths are shown under construction (Now completed) in this shot lower right. If it were to host athletics there is a lot of scope to erect scaffold stands on the hill and to the South. When the stadium was constructed the eight row Eastern Stand (Bottom right) was designed to have its roof removed and an additional 14 rows added to permanently boost its seating from approximately 1000 to 3200. I could honestly see the government biting the bullet and funding the demolition of the North Ballarat Social Club (Right) and replacing it and its seven hundred seats with a much larger corporate focussed stand capable of seating 3000. If the stadium gets the nod to host the athletics, it's likely that we will see permanent seating at the ground expanded by 6000 and after the games the existing hill would be re-instated and a new hill constructed to the South to accommodate another 3000.

First cab off the rank would be to replace the stadium's anaemic lighting. The lighting at Mars Stadium has been roundly criticised by AFL coaches, the A-League and TV Commentators. The Ballarat Council got the message loud and clear in 2018 when a twilight AFL game in July saw Ballarat's Winter weather unleash in all it's glory as the game was smashed by winds, hail, sleet and rain. The commentators and coaches couldn't see the other side of the field despite the fact that eight temporary sports flood lights were put in to supplement the stadium's lighting. It was highly embarrassing for Ballarat and the media in Melbourne went to town rounding against it. The Council have submitted requests to State and Federal political parties to fund $3.5 million in the forthcoming elections to replace the four existing 37 metre towers (300 lux output) with four 50 metre towers equipped with LED lights capable of illuminating the arena to 1000 lux. They knew exactly how much to ask for because that is exactly what it is costing to erect similar towers at Ikon Park in Carlton and at the VU Whitten Oval in Footscray. It's not possible to simply upgrade the existing four towers as they have a capacity for 36 lights each and if fully rigged they would still only achieve between 500-600 lux. And being only 37 metres high, there is a lot of light interference directly at TV cameras mounted in the stand.

The legacy of the games would leave the ground with approximately 11,000 undercover seats and standing room for several thousand and a capability to host night cricket, rugby, soccer and AFL football. It would be on par with Manuka Oval in Canberra.

The image below is from early 2019 before the hill was half concreted and new toilets and entrances were built to the left of shot:

Excellent analysis in Mars Stadium.  Yes, absolutely, Ballarat could score a world class lighting system if it is indeed the track and field venue.  Less disruptive too for AFL if it is in Ballarat.

Would an athletics track fit into GMHBA Stadium in Geelong which does have excellent lighting and facilities?  I have heard in earlier discussions on this that the dimensions of GMHBA Stadium but not sure if this is confirmed.

 

 

[TorchbearerSydney]

Q:But from which RAP? There are dozens across the host regions. 

I am from a family of elders- we are more than capable of selecting the appropriate person/  people for the job....maybe an elder from each host city. Victoria does not have that many aboriginal nations.

We are not stupid...we governed ourselves for 60,000 years....

[Victorian]

Daniel Andrews will accept the flag

[RooBlu]

2 hours ago, AustralianFan said:

Excellent analysis in Mars Stadium.  Yes, absolutely, Ballarat could score a world class lighting system if it is indeed the track and field venue.  Less disruptive too for AFL if it is in Ballarat.

Would an athletics track fit into GMHBA Stadium in Geelong which does have excellent lighting and facilities?  I have heard in earlier discussions on this that the dimensions of GMHBA Stadium but not sure if this is confirmed.

 

 

There's your answer. They will weigh up the AFL losses resultant from Kardinia Park effectively being out of action for up to half the AFL season, considering that each AFL game is directly worth about $4 million to Geelong's  economy. For the economic benefit of holding athletics at Geelong over several days would be wiped out by losing several AFL games. Where as there is not that problem in Ballarat as it only hosts two AFL and one AFLW game per season which could all be pushed back to the second half of the season. AFLW will probably be starting their season in July or August by 2026.

[RooBlu]

BTW for the record I can't take credit for either of the two stadium images above. They were sourced from Bigfooty forumers. Just to let you all know.

[RooBlu]

2 hours ago, Australian Kiwi said:

I think the Governor is the right choice. She is currently in Birmingham meeting with the CGF.

Agree. Governor yes, traditional owners ... too hard and too many choices. 

[RooBlu]

If you ever want to know anything about Mars Stadium there are two women who know everthing about it. One is a lady on "Bigfooty" forum who calls herself "Roogal" (I'd almost call her Ms Mars Stadium) and the other is the Stadium Manager, "Marg Richards" on Facebook who started out working at the brand new North Ballarat Social club in 1990 and managed the North Ballarat Sports Club's operations and did much of the behind the scenes work as the facility evolved over 30 years.  When the Ballarat Council compulsorily acquired the club in 2019, they immediately hired Marg onto the Council's payroll for her depth of knowledge and passion. Roogal on the other hand knows much about the stadium's history going right back to when it was a trotting track (1950-1966), its first redevelopment as a dedicated footy oval in 1990, and followed the construction and redevelopment to what it has evolved to today between (2015-2022).

[AustralianFan]

5 hours ago, RooBlu said:

There's your answer. They will weigh up the AFL losses resultant from Kardinia Park effectively being out of action for up to half the AFL season, considering that each AFL game is directly worth about $4 million to Geelong's  economy. For the economic benefit of holding athletics at Geelong over several days would be wiped out by losing several AFL games. Where as there is not that problem in Ballarat as it only hosts two AFL and one AFLW game per season which could all be pushed back to the second half of the season. AFLW will probably be starting their season in July or August by 2026.

Brilliant Rooblu. 

[AustralianFan]

Right on cue, this report just in from UK on the overnight presentation by the 2026 Com Games team from Victoria, reveals these snippets as what appears to be the favoured venues for these sports by the bid team in this ITG report:

Opening Ceremony - MCG - this was a big surprise given the disruption to AFL

Athletics - Mars Stadium, Ballarat  

Swimming - Kardinia Aquatic Centre, Geelong - adjacent to  GHMBA Stadium, makes sense forthe Regional focus

Basketball - Bendigo Basketball Stadium

“Australia expects to include between 19 and 22 sports in 2026, but Australian rules, practically a religion in Victoria, has already been ruled out.”

“It is planned to announce the first set of sports when Victoria is formally awarded the 2026 Commonwealth Games next month once the CGF have officially gone through their bid document.”

“By comparison, there were 245 events in 17 sports during Melbourne 2006, while this year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham has 283 events in 20 sports.”

 

[AustralianFan]

27 minutes ago, AustralianFan said:

Right on cue, this report just in from UK on the overnight presentation by the 2026 Com Games team from Victoria, reveals these snippets as what appears to be the favoured venues for these sports by the bid team in this ITG report:

Opening Ceremony - MCG - this was a big surprise given the disruption to AFL

Athletics - Mars Stadium, Ballarat  

Swimming - Kardinia Aquatic Centre, Geelong - adjacent to  GHMBA Stadium, makes sense forthe Regional focus

Basketball - Bendigo Basketball Stadium

“Australia expects to include between 19 and 22 sports in 2026, but Australian rules, practically a religion in Victoria, has already been ruled out.”

“It is planned to announce the first set of sports when Victoria is formally awarded the 2026 Commonwealth Games next month once the CGF have officially gone through their bid document.”

“By comparison, there were 245 events in 17 sports during Melbourne 2006, while this year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham has 283 events in 20 sports.”

 

The report also says “a number of sports to take place in Melbourne”.  

• Cycling at John Cain Arena would have to top of that list
• No central athletes village - athletes to stay in each of the Regional centres near their sports

We await the formal announcement next month of the final list of sports and venues.

[AustralianFan]

13 hours ago, RooBlu said:

This projects an idea of how much land they have to work with in terms of building at Mars Stadium and the impact of the track on the existing oval. The Southern toilets and Gate 2 were built only last year (2021) and a new Gate 1 with catering kiosk booths are shown under construction (Now completed) in this shot lower right. If it were to host athletics there is a lot of scope to erect scaffold stands on the hill and to the South. When the stadium was constructed the eight row Eastern Stand (Bottom right) was designed to have its roof removed and an additional 14 rows added to permanently boost its seating from approximately 1000 to 3200. I could honestly see the government biting the bullet and funding the demolition of the North Ballarat Social Club (Right) and replacing it and its seven hundred seats with a much larger corporate focussed stand capable of seating 3000. If the stadium gets the nod to host the athletics, it's likely that we will see permanent seating at the ground expanded by 6000 and after the games the existing hill would be re-instated and a new hill constructed to the South to accommodate another 3000.

First cab off the rank would be to replace the stadium's anaemic lighting. The lighting at Mars Stadium has been roundly criticised by AFL coaches, the A-League and TV Commentators. The Ballarat Council got the message loud and clear in 2018 when a twilight AFL game in July saw Ballarat's Winter weather unleash in all it's glory as the game was smashed by winds, hail, sleet and rain. The commentators and coaches couldn't see the other side of the field despite the fact that eight temporary sports flood lights were put in to supplement the stadium's lighting. It was highly embarrassing for Ballarat and the media in Melbourne went to town rounding against it. The Council have submitted requests to State and Federal political parties to fund $3.5 million in the forthcoming elections to replace the four existing 37 metre towers (300 lux output) with four 50 metre towers equipped with LED lights capable of illuminating the arena to 1000 lux. They knew exactly how much to ask for because that is exactly what it is costing to erect similar towers at Ikon Park in Carlton and at the VU Whitten Oval in Footscray. It's not possible to simply upgrade the existing four towers as they have a capacity for 36 lights each and if fully rigged they would still only achieve between 500-600 lux. And being only 37 metres high, there is a lot of light interference directly at TV cameras mounted in the stand.

The legacy of the games would leave the ground with approximately 11,000 undercover seats and standing room for several thousand and a capability to host night cricket, rugby, soccer and AFL football. It would be on par with Manuka Oval in Canberra.

The image below is from early 2019 before the hill was half concreted and new toilets and entrances were built to the left of shot:

 

Excellent comparison too RooBlu between Mars Stadium in Ballarat and Manuka Oval in Canberra.

Below from Google Maps of Manuka Oval including it’s light towers, shows what can be done.  

Back to Mars Stadium in Ballarat and temporary grandstands would be a huge boost to capacity in 2026 as with Brisbane 1982 and Birmingham 2022.

[Victorian]

1 hour ago, AustralianFan said:

Right on cue, this report just in from UK on the overnight presentation by the 2026 Com Games team from Victoria, reveals these snippets as what appears to be the favoured venues for these sports by the bid team in this ITG report:

Opening Ceremony - MCG - this was a big surprise given the disruption to AFL

Athletics - Mars Stadium, Ballarat  

Swimming - Kardinia Aquatic Centre, Geelong - adjacent to  GHMBA Stadium, makes sense forthe Regional focus

Basketball - Bendigo Basketball Stadium

“Australia expects to include between 19 and 22 sports in 2026, but Australian rules, practically a religion in Victoria, has already been ruled out.”

“It is planned to announce the first set of sports when Victoria is formally awarded the 2026 Commonwealth Games next month once the CGF have officially gone through their bid document.”

“By comparison, there were 245 events in 17 sports during Melbourne 2006, while this year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham has 283 events in 20 sports.”

 

It won’t have too much of an impact as they could just hold the ceremony on grass with a cover over the ground not needing to rip it up? 
 

The article did say the MCG might host other events too. Maybe Cricket?

[AustralianFan]

24 minutes ago, Victorian said:

It won’t have too much of an impact as they could just hold the ceremony on grass with a cover over the ground not needing to rip it up? 
 

The article did say the MCG might host other events too. Maybe Cricket?

It’s more than coveiring and protecting the surface of the MCG.  It’s also the disruption from the lead-in and security lockdown of the venue in advance, installation of theatrical equipment and rigging, staging equipment/lights, props, a raft of venue add-ons, then there’s the time needed for dress rehearsals.   Melbourne 2006 had flying wires strung high above the G, but not saying that flying performers and flying trams will again be used in 2026.

I think the article said that Melbourne, as a city, would host other events as well. But I believe that the only event at the G will be the Opening Ceremony.

“The famous 100,000-capacity MCG, however, is still set to stage the Opening Ceremony and a number of sports will take place in Australia’s second biggest city.”

You make a good point re cricket though and I think it’s odds on that cricket will be included in the 2026 Games.   Plenty of cricket venue options in Melbourne and Regional Victoria with temporary seating added.

[yoshi]

Victoria: We want these games to show off the regions of the state, its other cities - to show that we're more than just Melbourne. 

Also Victoria: Opening ceremony venue? MCG of course. 

[RooBlu]

2 hours ago, AustralianFan said:

Opening Ceremony - MCG - this was a big surprise given the disruption to AFL

Athletics - Mars Stadium, Ballarat  

Swimming - Kardinia Aquatic Centre, Geelong - adjacent to  GHMBA Stadium, makes sense forthe Regional focus

Basketball - Bendigo Basketball Stadium

“Australia expects to include between 19 and 22 sports in 2026, but Australian rules, practically a religion in Victoria, has already been ruled out.”

Aussie rules not being included is totally understandable considering that competions in other countries are scarce and embrionic at best. It was played at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 as an exhibition game and may be played again as an exhibition perhaps at the redeveloped Marvel Stadium in 2026? A replay of the 2025 Grand Finalists (Carlton v North Melbourne ) would guarantee a packed house.

[AustralianFan]

3 minutes ago, yoshi said:

Victoria: We want these games to show off the regions of the state, its other cities - to show that we're more than just Melbourne. 

Also Victoria: Opening ceremony venue? MCG of course. 

Absolutely and I think that most sports will be held in Regional Victoria with a handful of sports in Melbourne.

It’s refreshing and fantastic that Regional Victoria will be the focus of these Games.

The overnight report does not mention the Closing Ceremony, so perhaps it will be held in Regional Victoria?

[AustralianFan]

2 minutes ago, RooBlu said:

Aussie rules not being included is totally understandable considering that competions in other countries are scarce and embrionic at best. It was played at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 as an exhibition game and may be played again as an exhibition perhaps at the redeveloped Marvel Stadium in 2026? A replay of the 2025 Grand Finalists (Carlton v North Melbourne ) would guarantee a packed house.

It would be a cracker of a match