Adelaide Arena (known commercially as Adelaide 36ers Arena) is a multipurpose indoor sports stadium located in Findon, an inner western suburb of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It is the former home arena for the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers, also known as the Sixers, are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in th ...

of the NBL and the current home arena of the

Adelaide Lightning The Adelaide Lightning is an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League ( WNBL). The club is based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The club was formed in 1993 and they play i ...

of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). In the past, it has served as an alternate venue for Adelaide's

Suncorp Super Netball Suncorp Super Netball is the top level netball league featuring teams from Australia. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from New Zealand, as the top level netball league in Australia. Since 2019, the league has ...

team, the

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they pla ...

. Although it can be a multipurpose venue catering to both sports and other events, the Titanium Security Arena is currently the largest arena in Australia primarily built for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, and as of the

2016–17 NBL season The 2016–17 NBL season was the 39th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between October 2016 and February 2017, followed by a pos ...

is the 6th-largest out of 11 venues currently used in the league, though it remains the only basketball specific venue. The arena is also the largest venue currently used in the WNBL.

History

Adelaide Arena has been the Adelaide 36ers' home venue since 1992 and the

's home for most years since 1993. The arena was built to replace the 36ers former and now-demolished home,

Apollo Stadium Apollo Stadium (officially called the Apollo Entertainment Centre) was a multi-purpose indoor arena located at 41 Kingston Avenue, Richmond, South Australia, just 5 minutes from the Adelaide city centre. The stadium had an original seating capac ...

, which only seated 3,000 people in cramped conditions. Despite the arena's ability to host more than just sporting events such as basketball and netball, the Government of South Australia placed restrictions on the venue's use when it opened in 1992. Due to the government owning the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, the arena could not be used for such events as concerts, with most major international musical acts performing at the centre or Adelaide's outdoor venues such as the now-demolished

Football Park Football Park, known commercially as AAMI Stadium, was an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia, Australia. It was built in 1973 by the South Australian Na ...

, Memorial Drive or the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby le ...

. The arena was purchased by businessmen

Eddy Groves Edmund Stuart "Eddy" Groves (born 16 June 1966) is an Australian businessman, founder and former chief executive officer of ABC Learning, once one of Australia's largest companies and one of the world's biggest childcare providers prior to go ...

and Mal Hemmerling in 2006 for A$3.95 million. However, in 2012, the Commonwealth Bank took possession of the arena after Eddy Groves had defaulted on the loan. On 3 April 2013, it was announced that Scouts SA and SA Church Basketball had become joint owners of the arena. The event restrictions were lifted in December 2014 allowing the arena to host non-sporting events, including music concerts. The set-up for concerts at the arena involves retracting the northern bowl seats to allow for a stage with general floor seating covering the Brett Maher Court. With this setup in place, capacity at the arena stays at 8,000 for concerts. The arena's attendance record of 8,127 was set on 11 April 2014 to see Game 2 of the 2013–14 Grand Final series when the 36ers defeated the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

89–84. In January 2016, the arena undertook an extensive renovation process to upgrade the arena. A newcourt video scoreboard was erected at a cost of $200,000 to replace the old LCD scoreboard which had been in place since 1992; new lighting was also added, along with a new

PA system A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...

. The current owner of this arena is Beverley Leisure Park subsidiary company o
PELLIGRA

Sporting events

Basketball

Since its opening Adelaide Arena has played host to 7 NBL Grand Final games in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

(1 game),

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

(1 game),

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

(games 2 and 3), 2002 (games 2 and 3) and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

(1 game), with the 36ers winning all games except the opening game of the 1994 series against the

North Melbourne Giants The North Melbourne Giants, previously known as the Coburg Giants, were an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of ...

and Game 2 of the 1999 series against the Victoria Titans. The Adelaide Arena has also played host to Boomers and Opals games against various visiting nations and other touring teams, including the opening game of a five-game series between the Boomers and Magic Johnson's All-Stars, who included former NBA players such as captain/coach Johnson and three-time

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Originally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...

Mark Aguirre Mark Anthony Aguirre (born December 10, 1959) is an American former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Aguirre was chosen as the first overall pick of the 1981 NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks after playing thre ...

who top scored with 32 points, on 7 March 1995. In front of almost 8,000 fans, the All-Stars defeated the Boomers (who included 36ers players Mark Davis, Brett Maher, Mike McKay, Chris Blakemore and Brett Wheeler) 113–98. Brett Maher Court 026

The Harlem Globetrotters have also played at the arena, the most recent occasion being on 1 November 2013. The NBL returned to the Arena when the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Sky Sport Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at ...

hosted a game against the

at the Venue on 12 March 2022.

Netball

When the arena was opened in 1992, the arena also became the home of major

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

games played in South Australia, with the state league grand final being played there until 2000. The

Australian Netball Diamonds The Australia national netball team, also known as the Australian Diamonds, represent Netball Australia in international netball tournaments such as the INF Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Constellation Cup, the Netball Quad S ...

have used the arena for test matches, and from 1997 until 2001 it was the home of the

and Adelaide Ravens who played the

Commonwealth Bank Trophy The Commonwealth Bank Trophy, also referred to as the National Netball League, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1997 and 2007. The league was organized by Netball Australia. Its main sponsor was the Commonwealth Ba ...

References

External links