{"id":117285,"date":"2025-11-12T09:18:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T22:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=117285"},"modified":"2025-11-12T09:18:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T22:18:20","slug":"western-bulldogs-ballarat-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/western-bulldogs-ballarat-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Bulldogs shift games back to Marvel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"135\" data-end=\"271\">The Western Bulldogs won\u2019t host AFL home-and-away matches in Ballarat during the 2026 season as major upgrades to Mars Stadium continue.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"273\" data-end=\"542\">The AFL confirmed the decision following consultation with the club, state government, Visit Victoria, City of Ballarat, Mars Wrigley and Marvel Stadium. Capacity limitations during the redevelopment prompted the relocation of the two scheduled games to Marvel Stadium.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"544\" data-end=\"748\">Despite the shift, the Bulldogs will maintain their regional commitment. Mars Stadium will still host an AFLW match in 2026 and three pre-season AFL games in February as part of the AAMI Community Series.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"750\" data-end=\"853\">Western Bulldogs chief executive Ameet Bains said all parties had worked together to reach the outcome.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"855\" data-end=\"957\">\u201cArriving at this decision has not been easy and we understand and accept the outcome,\u201d Mr Bains said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"959\" data-end=\"1102\">\u201cThe Club\u2019s commitment to Ballarat remains absolute and the resumption of AFL matches in Ballarat remains an essential part of our partnership.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1104\" data-end=\"1198\">\u201cWe\u2019re extremely grateful for the understanding and support of our Ballarat members and fans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1200\" data-end=\"1426\">The stadium\u2019s redevelopment is scheduled to be completed by September 2026 and will deliver more seating and a better gameday experience. The Bulldogs plan to return to Ballarat in 2027 and 2028 with two AFL games each season.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1428\" data-end=\"1595\">The club will also bring its AFL squad to the region for a Community Camp on December 2 and 3, featuring an open training session and Superkick Clinic at Mars Stadium.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1597\" data-end=\"1813\">Ballarat members will receive complimentary access to two of the Bulldogs\u2019 Marvel Stadium home games during the 2026 season. Full-season members who renew before December 31, 2025, will also get those games included.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1815\" data-end=\"1903\">Ballarat-specific memberships will return in 2027 when the stadium is fully operational.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1905\" data-end=\"2031\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">For updates, visit the Western Bulldogs\u2019 official website at <strong data-start=\"1966\" data-end=\"2030\"><a class=\"decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernbulldogs.com.au\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"1968\" data-end=\"2028\">westernbulldogs.com.au<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Western Bulldogs won\u2019t host AFL home-and-away matches in Ballarat during the 2026 season as major upgrades to Mars Stadium continue. The AFL confirmed the decision following consultation with the club, state government, Visit Victoria, City of Ballarat, Mars Wrigley and Marvel Stadium. Capacity limitations during the redevelopment prompted the relocation of the two scheduled [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/western-bulldogs-ballarat-2026\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":162,"featured_media":117286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-117285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Western Bulldogs shift games back to Marvel - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Western Bulldogs won\u2019t play AFL games in Ballarat in 2026 due to Mars Stadium redevelopment, but pre-season and AFLW games will go ahead.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/western-bulldogs-ballarat-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Western Bulldogs shift games back to Marvel - 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