While the result put their finals chances in serious jeopardy, the runaway success of the Western Bulldogs' home game in Ballarat on the weekend is here to stay, at the expense of Australia's far north eastern region.

The reigning premiers have played a 'home' game in Cairns for the past four years with a reported $500,000 revenue made out of each fixture.

However, a near-capacity crowd in the regional Victorian town of Ballarat turned out at a recently redeveloped Mars Stadium, something the Dogs will see more of in the future.

As it stands, the Bulldogs will play two games a year in Ballarat until the 2021 season with CEO Gary Kent telling AFL.com.au his club is still happy to be involved in a game in Cairns as an away team.

"Having two games in Ballarat and trying to keep a home game in Cairns will be quite difficult," Kent said.

"We said to the AFL we'd like to keep playing up there but preferably as the away team from next year onwards.

"We'd love to keep supporting Cairns, we've had great support there from the locals and our fans travelling up."

A once-struggling financial club, the Bulldogs' premiership in 2016 has helped the club's bottom line tremendously, allowing them to grow their membership base, crowd numbers and sponsorship, all in the space of a relatively short time.

10,087 fans packed Mars Stadium on a weekend and it's a partnership that Kent said he would only like to see grow from here.

"I think everyone saw what sort of demand there is, and we've got 47,000 members who all weren't able to get in the stadium, so we'd be very much supportive of expanding, and the State Government will be too eventually," Kent said.

"The City of Ballarat sponsorship is significant, as well as making that our heartland, in terms of fans and members for the club.

"The city and the people of Ballarat have really got behind us. You could see that from the red, white and blue throughout the grandstand and on the hill.

"We're really delighted with the first game, and what it's going to do in terms of commercial returns over time for us."

The Dogs must win their clash against Hawthorn on Friday night while hoping other results fall their way if they are to play September football.