Melbourne Showgrounds is located in the inner north-western suburb of Ascot Vale, Victoria, Australia, next door to Flemington Racecourse.

During the 1980s and early 1990s the showground saw such Motorcycle speedway riders as World Champions Ivan Mauger, Hans Nielsen, Michael Lee, Shawn Moran, Simon Wigg and Tommy Knudsen, as well as Australian's Phil Crump, Rod Hunter, Mark Fiora and Todd Wiltshire.

During this time the showground hosted two annual speedway events, the "Boxing Day Spectacular", and the "Mr Melbourne" title held in January.

[5] The contract with PPP Solutions was signed on 22 June 2005, and required the consortium to design, build, finance and maintain the showground facilities for a period of 25 years.

In 2008 the development of the Epsom Road site was announced, with Coles Group building a $40 million neighbourhood shopping centre, featuring a Coles supermarket, 1st Choice Liquor superstore, 30 retail spaces ranging in size from 50 square metres to 600 square metres, and a not-for-profit child care centre able to accommodate up to 120 children.