Melbourne Renegades abandon Marvel Stadium and Geelong ahead of major BBL change

[p]The Renegades have called Marvel Stadium their home ground since the inception of the Big Bash League (BBL) as we know it, whilst the franchise played one or two home matches per season in Geelong since the start of the 2018/19 season (the pandemic-affected 2020-21 season being the only exception). [/p][p]Ongoing complaints about the quality of pitches at both Marvel Stadium and Geelong's GHMBA Stadium haunted the Renegades for several years, who were still otherwise enjoying healthy crowds at Marvel Stadium in large part due to its public transport accessibility. [/p][p]They have signed an agreement with the Melbourne Cricket Club, custodians of the MCG, to play two of their five home games at the 100,000-seat stadium, one of which will be against crosstown rivals [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/melbourne-stars/MPk7NTBN/"]Melbourne Stars[/a], in addition to their annual away derby against the Stars. [/p][p]The remainder of their three home games will be shared between two at the 10,000-capacity Junction Oval in St Kilda, which is now the headquarters of Cricket Victoria and the Victorian men's and women's teams, as well as the historic season-opening game against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/perth-scorchers/UgkXNmRT/"]Perth[/a] Scorchers in Chennai. [/p][embed guid="2db9a8aa-f8cd-472b-a8a1-6ba4c4c664ae" url="https://x.com/RenegadesBBL/status/2075359488794902563" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Junction Oval had broadcast-quality floodlights installed over the winter which are set to debut on September 25 when Victoria and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-south-wales/x61ZlzKe/"]New South Wales[/a] play a One-Day Cup match on Victoria's 'Grand Final Eve' public holiday. [/p][p]It is also set to host WBBL matches under lights, whilst the likelihood of the Renegades' two home fixtures there also being played at night is high. [/p][p]The inaugural BBL match in Chennai is likely to take place on the evening of December 12, following the fourth day of Australia's Perth Test against New Zealand, and could be announced this week by heads of state Anthony Albanese and Narendra Modi. [/p][p][a href="https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/the-secret-talks-to-bring-the-indian-premier-league-to-australia-20260708-p60dpp.html" target="_blank"]According to Nine newspapers reporter Daniel Brettig[/a], Albanese and Modi are also set to meet with the heads of the AFL (Andrew Dillon) and Cricket Australia (Todd Greenberg) with the aim of making the season opener in India an annual event and potentially even bringing one Indian Premier League game to the MCG as a recripocal gesture. [/p][p]Melbourne Renegades are under a 'temporary administration' for the 2026/27 season as Cricket Victoria looks to offload their secondary franchise to a private owner before potentially rebranding the Stars under a new model that would see them revert to the Victorian navy blue and white colours. [/p][infobox id="d39bc573-b9dd-4b87-acb9-2de1f22d36c7" /]