Sports Venues
Melbourne is rich in sports entertainment venues and that's probably to be expected as it's considered by many to be the sports capital of Australia.
Catering for the traditional Aussie spectator sports such as Aussie Rules Football, the emergence of soccer as a dominant spectator and participation activity has seen huge investment in state of the art complexes that match anything in the world today.
AAMI Park (Melbourne Rectangular Stadium) (MRS)
- Address: 60 Olympic Blvd, East Melbourne, 3000
- Phone: +61 3 9286 1600
Located between the Yarra River and the Melbourne Cricket Ground, only one kilometre away from the city centre in East Melbourne, AAMI Park is an excellent sports complex.
This huge building has a capacity for 30,050 people and it is a place where famous sport events occur including A-League football matches and rugby events.
This outdoor sports stadium owns rectangular pitch accommodating rugby league and soccer, a sports campus that includes training centre, swimming pool and office space for organising sports events.
Besides, AAMI Park a dining room with capacity for 1,100 people, 14 bars, a public café and more merchandising facilities and food and beverage outlets.
The stadium has a "Bioframe" design and the roof covers most of the seating area, but it also allows enough lightening to the pitch. On the hand, there are thousands of LED lights which make the outside of the stadium spectacular.
Etihad Stadium
- Address: 740 Bourke Street, West Melbourne, 3008
- Phone: +61 3 8625 7700
Located very near to the Melbourne's CBD, Etihad Stadium is an attractive stadium where memorable events are taking place during the whole year.
The most famous events which are attended by visitors are definitely the football matches and Etihad Stadium is currently home ground for many football teams of the Australian Football League.
During the whole year the stadium hosts around 55 matches which are attended by 1.8 million patrons. This multipurpose stadium is unique when it comes to the design because it has comfortable seating, excellent lightening system and retractable roof which enable the events no matter of the weather outside. Etihad Stadium has the flexibility to cater for many different sport events, has a room for 52,000 people and hosts more than 600 functions annually in 15 different function areas.
The stadium is near many entertainment facilities including shops, bars and restaurant which make it even more attractive.
Melbourne Cricket Ground MCG
- Address: Brunton Ave, East Melbourne, 3000
- Phone: +61 3 9657 8888
Built in 1853, in Yarra Park in Melbourne, Melbourne Cricket Ground is known as Australia's favourite stadium which has a fascinating history that can be compared with all of the great stadiums in the world.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is one of the most popular in the world, it counts memorable cricket moments and holds more than 80 events annually.
On the other hand, this ground is also home of the Australian football and a place where the National Sports Museum with all sporting artefacts is located.
With a total capacity of 100,020 people, Melbourne Cricket Ground is a place where not only sports games are going on but also music concerts including the performances of famous singers such as Madonna, U2, Michael Jackson and many others.
Because of the fabulous events that can be seen, Melbourne Cricket Ground is visited by people of all over the world during the whole year.
Hisense Arena
- Address: Melbourne & Olympic Parks,Olympic Blvd, East Melbourne, 3001
- Phone: +61 3 9286 1600
Hisense Arena represents a multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue that is part of the Melbourne Park complex.
The building process of the venue lasted around 10 years, it was totally completed in 2000 and today it has a capacity for 11,000 people.
Hisense Arena presents many different sports including basketball, boxing, netball, wrestling and cycling. Also, it is a place where many matches as part of the Australian Open tennis tournament are going on.
Hisense Arena has a revolutionary design because it can suit almost every sport from ice skating to basketball, cycling and opera. The building is brilliant, it has thousands of lights which make it even more spectacular and it has a retractable roof which can open or close in less than 10 minutes.
Hisense Arena is also where many famous concerts of all genres are held which attract thousands of people every year.
Rod Laver Arena
- Address: Batman Ave, East Melbourne, 3000
- Phone: +61 3 9286 1600
Rod Laver Arena is a brilliant tennis stadium where the greatest tennis matches in Melbourne take place.
The venue was completed in 1988 and since then it is the centrepiece of the Australian Open replacing the famous Kooyong Stadium. On the other hand, Rod Laver Arena is a multipurpose venue where besides sports games, also ballets, motorbike super-crosses, many concerts and spectacular events are constantly happening.
Rod Laver Arena is a place for organizing many functions beginning from small intimate occasions of 10 guests, to large events for thousands of people.
Before or after the show, the visitors have the opportunity to visit Arena Café and enjoy tasty meal and drinks in a relaxed atmosphere.
Because of the excellent exterior and interior, the many spectacular music and sports events Rod Laver Arena attracts over 1.5 million visitors per year.
