The Ballarat Council, media, sports groups, tourism and business groups continued a united lobby 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 and re-oriented to a NE-SW axis in preparation for the first stage of construction.

In 2015 North Melbourne was forced to cease its association with Ballarat and were subsequently contracted to playing three of their seasonal AFL premiership matches in Hobart, Tasmania.

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.

[4] 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.

[5] The stadium hosted association football (soccer) with A-League club Western United FC playing 3-4 of its seasonal Victorian home game fixtures in Ballarat between 2019 and 2024.

Similar towers recently installed at Melbourne AFLW venues meet the guidelines for digital TV broadcasts for professional sports.

[12] This announcement was accompanied with architect's renders confirming the proposed design of the stands as well as a new international accredited competition athletics field and club pavilion to be situated on the former Ballarat Showgrounds located adjacent to the stadium.

Construction of the Athletics Centre and main stadium upgrades commenced in February 2025 are expected to be completed by April and September 2026 respectively.