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 list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. It is the former home arena for the Adelaide 36ers of the NBL and the current home arena of the

Adelaide Lightning The Adelaide Lightning are an Australian professional basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The club is based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia, and will play their home games at the State Basketball ...

of the

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is a professional women's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the Women's sports, women's counterpart to the Na ...

(WNBL). In the past, it has served as an alternate venue for Adelaide's

Suncorp Super Netball The Super Netball League (known predominantly by its sponsored name Suncorp Group, Suncorp Super Netball (SSN)) is a professional netball league in Netball in Australia, Australia. It superseded the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship, which also inc ...

team, the

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an netball in Australia, Australian professional netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 Suncorp Super Netball season, 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 ANZ Championship s ...

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, 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 The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government or the SA Government, is the executive branch of the state government, state of South Australia. It is modelled on the Westminster system, meaning that the h ...

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 N ...

, Memorial Drive or the Adelaide Oval. The arena was purchased by businessmen Eddy Groves and Mal Hemmerling in 2006 for A$3.95 million. However, in 2012, the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...

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 89–84. In 2015, the arena underwent close to $1 million in upgrades, with new lighting, a new score-cube, and a new public address system. The original score-cube, lighting and PA were in the venue since it opened in 1992.

Sporting events

Basketball

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

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

(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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

(1 game),

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

(games 2 and 3),

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

(games 2 and 3) and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

(1 game), with the 36ers winning all games except the opening game of the 1994 series against the North Melbourne Giants and Game 2 of the 1999 series against the Victoria Titans. The Adelaide Arena has also played host to Boomers and

Opals Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silicon dioxide, silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to the amorphous (chemical) physical structure, it is classified as a ...

games against various visiting nations and other touring teams, including the opening game of a five-game series between the Boomers and

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...

's All-Stars, who included former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

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. Traditionally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...

Mark Aguirre Mark Anthony Aguirre ( ; born December 10, 1959) is a Mexican-American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Aguirre was chosen as the List of first overall NBA draft picks, first overall pick of th ...

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. The

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

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 Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...

hosted a game against the Adelaide 36ers at the Venue on 12 March 2022.

Netball

The arena was the home of major

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

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

References

External links