The Bulldogs and then opposition leader Daniel Andrews announced last month that if Labor won the state election Ballarat's Eureka Stadium would undergo a $31.5 million upgrade so it could host two to three Bulldogs games from 2017.
With Andrews leading the Labor Party to a resounding election win on Saturday night, the Bulldogs' Ballarat plans are now a reality.
However, Gordon told SEN radio on Monday that 2018 was the most likely start date.
"My expectation is certainly by 2018 [the Bulldogs will be playing home and away games in Ballarat]. My hope would be 2017, but I think I'm expressing a bit of collective optimism when I say 2017," he said.
"We're at the end of 2014 now and this is not going to be a fully seated stadium like Etihad Stadium is, and we go back to some of the old community footy standards that we used to have back in the '80s and '90s when people could stand on a hill and watch.
"There will be I think 6000 seats - that's what's in the initial plan - and there will be a lot of room for people to stand with their families and watch in the local area.
"That's taking it a step at a time and building it up, just as most stadiums have been built up a step at a time."
Asked whether the Bulldogs would now form a VFL alignment with North Ballarat, which is set to end its longstanding affiliation with North Melbourne at the end of 2015, Gordon played a straight bat.
The Bulldogs' have their own standalone VFL team, Footscray, which won this year's premiership and attracted good crowds to its home games at the Whitten Oval.
"We're at an early stage of our relationship with the Ballarat football community," Gordon said.
"It's a real objective for us that in 10 years' time every one of those teams, be it at local level or North Ballarat or any of the other teams there, look back on [the Bulldogs' move to Ballarat] and think this is a really good thing for football."
