The NBL Bendigo Blitz may still be three months away, but at Red Energy Arena – where the games will take place – the excitement is truly buzzing.

Stadium chief executive David Elliott has described the public reaction as “overwhelming” since news of the event was announced in May 2026.

People have flocked to buy seats to the Blitz, with more than 4000 tickets already sold – or about 15 per cent of the total capacity for the weekend.

Red Energy Arena will host 10 elite basketball matches in September. Picture by Darren Howe

“To get the scale now at what the National Basketball League is operating at, to have all 10 teams here in Bendigo, we were really thrilled and honoured,” Mr Elliott said.

The deal will see the NBL teams compete at Red Energy Arena from September 2 to September 6, 2026.

Each team will play one match but the games will only be one component of the Blitz, according to Mr Elliott.

“For the sense of arrival from when you come here, we want to make sure there’s good, live music, that there’s retail offerings for people to get into … purchasing and wearing new merchandise,” Mr Elliott said.

It’s not just the new merchandise, with fans wearing old jerseys they may have had since childhood all part of the fun, Mr Elliott said.

“So I think it really, it really will be – in the true sense of the word – a festival,” he said.

Bendigo Stadium CEO David Elliott. Picture by Darren Howe

“I think that’s a great thing that you see in basketball globally and now, I think here nationally as well.”

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Credit – Joseph Najjar, Bendigo Advertiser