Home Ground Advantage

Major sporting and event venues around the world are evolving at a faster pace than ever. As part of a wider commitment to keep Victoria ahead of the game, in 2018 the Victorian Government developed Home Ground Advantage – Victoria’s Major Stadia Strategy to assess and determine the future needs of Victoria’s sporting stadiums and precincts.

Background

Victoria’s suite of major stadia are the envy of the world and are iconic to the Victorian landscape, including the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Marvel Stadium and AAMI Park. These venues set the scene for some of the biggest international events to come to this state including the Australian Open, AFL Grand Final, NRL State of Origin matches, Bledisloe Cup, Men's and Women's Cricket World Cups, FIFA Women's World Cup, and the Boxing Day Test.

The venues that host the State’s major events calendar provide a platform for:

• supporting the visitor economy
• enhancing the State’s international brand
• contributing to industry employment
• improving the State’s livability.

Policy Priorities

The Victorian Government is proud to have worked with the public, a wide range of partners, and stakeholders that make up the Victorian sport and recreation industry to develop Home Ground Advantage.

Home Ground Advantage is a game plan that focuses on major oval and rectangular field-based stadia and indoor arenas which host national and international men’s and women’s sporting competitions and entertainment events.

The strategy identifies opportunities to be implemented over the next 30 years to ensure Victoria remains the leading state in sport and major events focusing on the following policy priorities:

• professional women’s sport
• regional event attraction
• transport integration around major venues
• safety and security
• universal design.

Infrastructure Priorities

In alignment with the findings from Home Ground Advantage the Victorian Government has invested in the following projects:

• Professional woman's sport venue upgrades:
  • Arden Street Reserve
  • Casey Fields
  • Ikon Park (also known as Princes Park)
  • Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville
  • Moorabbin Reserve
  • Punt Road Oval
  • Victoria Park
  • Whitten Oval
• GMHBA Stadium, Geelong (also known as Kardinia Park)
• Junction Oval
• Mars Stadium, Ballarat (also known as Eureka Stadium)
• Marvel Stadium (also known as Docklands Stadium)
• Melbourne and Olympic Park Precinct.

While the key major development and renewal priorities across the network have been identified, ongoing venue renewals such as smaller-scale upgrades will also be needed so facilities continue to respond to changing demands.

It is recognised that a long-term view of potential pipeline projects needs to be considered to compliment the venue network to support infrastructure investment. These projects could include:

• redeveloped and new arenas in metro and regional Victoria capable of hosting national and international competition
• redeveloped and new rectangular stadiums.