Eureka Stadium, known commercially as Mars Stadium, is an oval-shaped sports stadium located in the Eureka Sports Precinct of Wendouree, 2.9 km (1.8 mi) north of the CBD of the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
History
The first permanent oval used by the North Ballarat Football Club was established in 1963 in the centre of the Ballarat Showgrounds show-ring and Harness Racing track that was used by the Ballarat Trotting Club as its main venue between 1952 and 1966. In 1990 a new large all-weather oval (dimensions 170 by 140 metres (560 ft × 460 ft)) replaced the old harness racing track. The new oval was complemented by a new club pavilion (The North Ballarat Sports Club) which was constructed on private land immediately to the oval's northern flank.
Between 1990 and 2015 the oval was used for many sporting and entertainment purposes although mainly as an Australian rules football and cricket venue. It annually hosted the Ballarat Gift (Athletics Carnival) and the Ballarat Agricultural and Pastoral Society's show-ring events during their annual Show. During this time the North Ballarat Sports Club underwent a number of expansions and upgrades.
The Northern Oval in its original configuration during the annual Ballarat Show, November 2011 prior to its redevelopment
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s various proposals to play AFL football at the ground had been discussed by the Ballarat football community, media, and business groups in isolation. However, in 2008 a proposal to develop the stadium for use by AFL team North Melbourne and the North Ballarat VFL team was put forward to the Victorian State Government by the Ballarat Council and the North Ballarat Sports Club. The proposal received support from the ALP Government during the 2010 State Election, however when not returned to office the new incoming LNP Government gave only conditional support to the proposal before finally abandoning it in 2011. The Ballarat Council, media, sports groups, tourism and business groups continued lobbying under a promotional campaign titled "Think Big Ballarat" until the 2014 State election when the ALP State Opposition announced that they would fund the development as an AFL Level 3 stadium with the first AFL seasonal game to be played from 2017 if elected. Once elected, the new ALP government immediately committed funding in the 2015 State Budget allowing the first stage of development of the stadium to commence.
In order to accommodate grandstands and other facilities the oval was completely rebuilt being re-oriented to a NE-SW axis in preparation for the first stage of construction. The newly rebuilt oval featured state of the art irrigation and drainage systems, a 4000 capacity spectator berm on its South-Eastern flank, and four 37 metres (121 ft) light towers rigged to illuminate the playing arena to 300 lux (sufficient for non-televised State level Australian Football night competition).
In June 2017 naming rights for the venue were granted to Mars Confectionery Australian division. From April 2017 to June 2018 the City of Ballarat and North Ballarat Sports Club negotiated for Council to purchase the Club's freehold land title to ensure that the newly built stadium and existing sports club would be co-developed and future-managed as a singular entity.
In 2006 professional football club North Melbourne established a partnership with the North Ballarat Football Club to enable its reserve-grade players to play alongside the North Ballarat players in the Victorian Football League. North Melbourne also played pre-season games in the Australian Football League (AFL) at the ground during this time. In 2014 the Victorian Government and AFL approved the request of fellow AFL club the Western Bulldogs at least two AFL premiership matches at the ground from 2017, though without an affiliation with North Ballarat as North Melbourne had been. At that point North Melbourne ceased its association with Ballarat and instead committed to play a percentage of their AFL premiership matches in Hobart, Tasmania.
In August 2017, the Bulldogs hosted the first AFL match for premiership points at the venue against Port Adelaide, with the latter winning the match by 17 points. The Bulldogs have also played pre-season and regular-season AFL men's and AFL Women's games at the ground. In November 2021, the Western Bulldogs and the Ballarat Council announced that the club would continue playing two AFL and one AFLW home games per season, to be reviewed in 2024.[3]
In July 2021, the stadium hosted the Round 17 AFL match between the GWS Giants and the Gold Coast Suns that was originally scheduled to be held in Sydney when a COVID-19 outbreak in New South Wales necessitated a last-minute change of venue.[4]
Association football
Since 2019 the stadium has hosted association football (soccer) with A-League club Western United FC playing some of its Victorian home games in Ballarat. The first game was played against Wellington Phoenix on 28 December 2019[5] with the Phoenix winning the match 3–1 in front of 5,084 fans. Since 2019 the club has continued to utilise the venue for some home season games and has further committed to do so until construction of a new dedicated home soccer stadium in Tarneit in Western Melbourne is eventually built. In October 2020 A-League Players voted the stadium as having equal to or the best surface of all A-League venues.[6]
Cricket
From 1990 to 2015 the main oval hosted Ballarat Cricket Association matches. The individual highest batting score on the ground (226 runs) being accredited to Mr Tom MacDonald (of the Wendouree Cricket Club) on the 18th February 2006 against the North Ballarat Cricket Club. The main oval has not been used for cricket since redevelopment in 2016, however provision was made for drop in wickets to be installed if the venue hosts future large scale cricket events. The Ballarat North Cricket Club currently play home matches at the Frank Bourke Oval (Also referred to as the Number 2 Oval) adjacent to the stadium, while First Class cricket matches in Ballarat are mostly hosted at the city's historic Eastern Oval which has recently undergone a series of Cricket Australia endorsed upgrades.
Rugby union and rugby league
The stadium successfully hosted Melbourne RebelsSuper Rugby AU pre-seasonal and seasonal games against Queensland Reds and the Durban Sharks during 2019 and 2020 respectively, and Melbourne Storm and Newcastle Knights of the Australian National Rugby League in February 2022 in a pre-season trial game before 5,127 fans.
Redevelopments in the 2010s
In 2015 the Ballarat Council prepared a strategic development document titled the "Ballarat Major Events Precinct Master Plan" that detailed a long-term plan for a three-stage development of the Eureka Sports Precinct which encompasses Eureka Stadium, the old Ballarat Showgrounds, neighbouring sports ovals, netball courts and pavilions as well as the construction of the Ballarat Sports Events Centre.[7]
The Eastern Stand
In June 2015 the Victorian government committed $38.5 million to upgrade the wider Eureka Sports Precinct, with approximately half of the funding allocated to Stage-One development of the Eureka Stadium complex.[8]
The Eastern Stand and main viewing berm
Planning for construction of the first stage was significantly fast-tracked, occurring whilst the reconstruction of the oval was underway during 2015. Initial design concepts for the grandstands were released for public comment in late 2015 resulting in significant revisions before the final designs were confirmed in May 2016. Soon after tenders for construction were announced, the building works for new grandstand and terraced seating for 5000, player races, a video scoreboard, new coaches boxes and media broadcast suites had commenced. Those construction works being completed by July 2017.
In May 2018 the Victorian State Government commissioned a $500,000 Ballarat Council study to identify works considered necessary to immediately address the facility's known shortcomings as well as long-term development options. The recommendations were delivered to the State Government and informed parts of the Victorian State Government's "Home Ground Advantage - Victoria's Major Stadia Strategy" document.[9]
From September 2020, Stage 2 development included a $6.6 million works program that provided upgraded player and umpire change-rooms as uni-sex facilities, two new permanent covered entrances and ticketing facilities, new food and beverage outlet, permanent public conveniences at the southern boundary of the stadium, and partial concreting of the south-east viewing berm. These works were completed $250,000 under the original forecast budget for $6.35 million in March 2022.
Since 2018 various sports users and television sports broadcasters have publicly criticised the stadium's Stage 1 2016 lighting upgrade stating its ineffectiveness for digital television broadcasts. In January 2022 the Ballarat Council lobbied for replacement of the stadium's lighting with modern TV broadcast standard towers under a $3.5 million request to political parties ahead of 2022 Federal and State elections.[10]
When the State of Victoria was awarded rights to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games in April 2022, the stadium was flagged for redevelopment to host the main track and field athletics events. The Commonwealth Games would have seen the stadium temporarily upgraded to 30,000 capacity. However in July 2023 the Victorian State Government withdrew Victoria from its hosting commitment due to a projected forecast cost blowout. Immediately the Premier of Victoria confirmed that the stadium and other proposed Games venues would be still upgraded or built to what was originally intended to be their post-Commonwealth Games configurations. For Eureka Stadium, its reconfiguration will see the stadium remain as an oval sports field with the permanent construction of an additional 5000 undercover seats to increase spectator capacity among other unspecified upgrades. Additionally, a new international standard competition athletics field and club pavilion will be built to the south of the main stadium on the existing Ballarat Showgrounds site. The Mayor of Ballarat City, Cr Des Hudson announced in January 2024 that the upgrades would be commenced and managed by Development Victoria from June 2024 [11].
.png)
