Vodafone Arena

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Vodafone Arena
Multi Purpose Venue

Location	Melbourne, Victoria
Opened	2000
Owner	Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust
Operator	Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust
Tenants
Australian Open (Tennis) South Dragons (NBL)
Capacity
10,500

Vodafone Arena in use during the 2006 Australian Open.

Vodafone Arena is a sports venue that is part of the Melbourne Park complex, in Melbourne, Australia.

1 History
2 Events
3 External links

[edit] History

Construction of Vodafone Arena commenced in the late 1990s, and was completed in 2000. It was originally named the Multi-purpose Venue, until the naming rights were sold to Vodafone, it has a maximum capacity of 11,000 people. The new South Dragons National Basketball League (NBL) franchise has recently made the Vodafone Arena its home court. Formerly, the Victoria Titans and Melbourne Tigers had Vodafone Arena as their home, until high rental prices forced the teams to find other venues. Until this recent move the venue was largely empty outside of the two weeks of the Australian Open tennis tournament.

The arena features a cycling track which is covered over with seating for court events. The tennis court is a Rebound-Ace surface and the roof is retractable, making it one of the few venues where tennis can be played while it is raining.

[edit] Events

[edit] Australian Open

Every year, Vodafone Arena hosts many matches as part of the Australian Open tennis tournament. It is generally used only during the day, in the first week and a half of the tournament.

[edit] Commonwealth Games

During the Commonwealth Games the stadium was used for basketball and other sports, its name changed to "Multi-Purpose Venue" because Telstra (a competitor of Vodafone) was a major sponsor of the Games.

[edit] Concerts

Vodafone Arena also plays hosts to National and International Musical Artists. Generally promoters prefer Rod Laver Arena, however Vodafone provides a suitable alternative when Rod Laver is unavailable. Acts have included: