Melbourne Arena

Former logo (2008–18)

During construction of the arena and throughout the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the arena was originally referred to as the Melbourne Park Multi-Purpose Venue.[1] When it opened in 2000, a sponsor was immediately assigned naming rights and it became known as the Vodafone Arena.[1] This arrangement lasted for eight years. On 12 May 2008, it was announced that its name would change to Hisense Arena in a multimillion-dollar six-year deal. In 2014 this was extended for a further three years.[2] Despite the contract ending at the conclusion of 2017, the multinational Hisense retained naming rights for several more months.[3]

Then in August 2018, Tennis Australia announced it had bought the naming rights and had elected to call the venue Melbourne Arena, saying it preferred a non-commercial title "iconic with the city".[4] The non-corporate name is in effect for five years, though the State Government and Tennis Australia have not ruled out extending the arena's name beyond that period.[4]

On 3 February 2020, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced that, in the near future, the arena would be renamed John Cain Arena in honour of John Cain, the 41st Premier of Victoria, regarded as a critical figure in keeping the Australian Open in Melbourne in the mid 1980s.[5]

Construction of Melbourne Arena commenced in the late 1990s, and was completed in 2000. The arena features a cycling track, which is covered over with seating for court events. The tennis court is a Plexicushion surface and the roof is retractable, making it one of the few venues where tennis can be played during rain.[1]

The venue is able to hold a maximum spectator capacity of 11,000 for events such as music concerts where general floor seating or standing room is available. For basketball, netball and tennis the capacity is 10,500. When the velodrome is in use the northern and southern banks of seats, which cover the turns of the velodrome, are raised to reveal the track while the floor seating is removed leaving a reduced capacity of 4,500.[1]

The arena has been used for netball for Melbourne Phoenix and Melbourne Kestrels games in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy. Melbourne Phoenix and the Melbourne Kestrels played their last home game there before merging to become the Melbourne Vixens who used it for home games in the ANZ Championship until 2016. Since 2017 the Vixens and new team the Magpies use the arena in the National Netball League.

The largest netball attendance at the arena was on 20 November 2004 when 10,300 saw the Australian national team defeat New Zealand 53 to 51.[6]

Following the renovation of the Margaret Court Arena as part of a A$363 million upgrade to Melbourne Park in time for the 2015 Australian Open, which included a retractable roof and an increase in capacity from 6,000 to 7,500, both Melbourne United (formerly the Melbourne Tigers) and the Melbourne Vixens announced their intentions to move from the arena to the smaller capacity Margaret Court Arena from 2015. However, Melbourne United abandoned their move to MCA after the 2015–16 NBL season and continue to play the majority of their games at Melbourne Arena (United play some games at the State Netball and Hockey Centre when the Australian Open takes place each January), while the Vixens will continue to split their games between Melbourne and Margaret Court Arenas with Melbourne used for games expected to attract a larger crowd.

• List of tennis stadiums by capacity

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Melbourne Arena.

• Official website
• Melbourne Arena at Austadiums