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The Victorian Government has signed a Heads of Agreement with the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Australia to enter exclusive negotiations for the hosting of the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Advising that it will “deliver a model of Games unprecedented in the competition’s history” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula today confirmed that, if awarded, the 2026 Commonwealth Games they will primarily be an event hosted in regional Victoria.

The parties will now enter two-month negotiation period for the Games hosting during which the Victorian Government and the Commonwealth Games Federation negotiate on the commercial aspects of the event.

Advising that while hosting the Games were not a certainty, Premier Andrews expressed his confidence that the state will secure the event, noting “we're confident, we wouldn't sign it if we didn't think we could get an outcome."

He added “these will be Games like no others and that will be great for regional Victoria, great for the state, for jobs, for investments, for confidence” going on to say that the Games hosting and a simultaneous arts and culture festival would reassert Victoria as “the sporting and events capital of the country”.

The regional hosting will tap into an alliance of 11 regional Victorian centres, including Shepparton, Bendigo, Geelong, Traralgon, Ballarat, Warrnambool, Nagambie, Wodonga and Yarrawonga, that had previously launched a campaign for Greater Victoria to host the 2030 games.

Premier Andrews said some regional locations such as Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo would be "self-starters" that already had the necessary facilities to host events, adding that further infrastructure funding would be needed to prepare regional locations for the Games.

An advantage of hosting the Games in regional Victoria during a winter or early autumn timeslot is that there would be need to negotiate with the AFL to host athletic events at a major Melbourne stadium.

However, the Geelong Cats home ground of GMHBA Stadium may well be the location for ceremonial events and the track and field competition which might require negotiations with the club.

Welcoming the potential hosting, Commonwealth Games Australia President, Ben Houston stated “hosting great Games is a key pillar in the Commonwealth Games Australia strategic plan and given our window for hosting the Games is 2026, we are thrilled to join the Commonwealth Games Federation in exclusive dialogue with Victoria to host the Commonwealth Games once again.”

Image: Geelong's GMHBA Stadium may well be the location for ceremonial events and the track and field competition at a 2026 Commonwealth Games hosted in Victoria.

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