Victoria confirms bid to host 2026 Commonwealth Games with exclusive negotiation arrangement

The Victorian government has signed an exclusive negotiation arrangement to host the Commonwealth Games due to take place in just four years’ time.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Wednesday said the “exciting announcement” meant the organisers of the 2026 games would work with the government to determine the costs and benefits of hosting.

Watch the video above for more on Tassie’s bid for the event

“This exclusivity speaks to the fact that we are the sporting capital of our nation,” Mr Andrews said.

“We have all that is needed to make an event like this a fantastic success.”

Mr Andrews said the vision was to have the games as a predominantly regional Victorian event with a number of towns and cities to host different events.

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The state government and Commonwealth Games Australia will now develop its hosting submission and the Commonwealth Games Federation will assess the submission before awarding the 2026 Games to Victoria.

This comes after Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein revealed he had written to Commonwealth Games Australia chief executive Craig Phillips and formally requested the island state be considered as a host for the sporting event.

“We’re engaged in a conversation with Commonwealth Games Australia in terms of what we might be able to do in terms of primarily co-hosting,” Mr Gutwein said last Friday.

Mr Gutwein said he understood regional Victoria was putting together a bid.

“If regional Victoria is the leading bid in the country, why wouldn’t we look to co-host with them?”

“In terms of Tasmania, we have some of the world’s best mountain bike assets. We have Lake Barrington in