Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct

Aerial view of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct

The Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct is a series of sports stadiums and venues, located in Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. The precinct is situated around 3 km east of the Melbourne city centre, located in suburbs of Melbourne and Jolimont, near East Melbourne and Richmond.

It is considered to be Australia's "premier sports precinct", and regularly hosts some of the biggest domestic and international sporting events, including the AFL Grand Final (Australian rules football), Australian Open (tennis) and Boxing Day Test (cricket). The venues have also previously hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics and 2006 Commonwealth Games. For the 1956 Games, the venues hosted the track cycling, field hockey, football, and the aquatic events.

Sports venues and stadiums

The precinct comprises three areas: Olympic Park, Melbourne Park and Yarra Park. Olympic and Melbourne Parks are jointly managed, and Yarra Park is managed separately. The precinct is bordered to the north by Wellington Parade, to the east by Punt Road, to the south by the Yarra River, and to the west by Batman Avenue.

The venues located in the precinct are:

Olympic Park:

• AAMI Park (capacity 30,000; outdoor), the premier purpose-built venue for rectangular field sports (rugby league, rugby union and association football), and used for large outdoor stadium concerts.
• Westpac Centre (indoor), a training facility used by the Collingwood Football Club, but formerly a 7,000 capacity stadium used originally for swimming, then later for basketball.

Melbourne Park:

• Rod Laver Arena (capacity 15,000; retractable roof), the premier venue for large indoor stadium concerts, and centre court for tennis in Melbourne Park. Also used in the past for basketball.
• Hisense Arena (capacity 10,500; retractable roof), the premier venue for basketball and netball, the second largest court for tennis in Melbourne Park, and a venue for indoor stadium concerts. Can be converted to a velodrome for major track cycling events.
• Margaret Court Arena (capacity 6,000; outdoor), the third-largest tennis court in Melbourne Park.
• Melbourne Park Tennis Complex including three outdoor show courts, five indoor courts, and more than twenty outdoor courts, which are used for professional matches and available for public hire.
• Melbourne Park Function Centre

Yarra Park:

• Melbourne Cricket Ground (capacity 100,000; outdoor), the premier venue for cricket and Australian rules football, and occasionally for other high-drawing field sports events.
• Punt Road Oval (capacity 15,000; outdoor), training facility for the Richmond Football Club, but formerly used for Australian rules football and premier grade cricket.
• Gosch's Paddock, a public playing field, also used for training by the Collingwood Football Club
• National Sports Museum, located at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

Former venues on the site include:

• Olympic Park Stadium (capacity 18,500; outdoor), formerly the premier venue for track and field and rectangular field sports. The stadium was superseded for rectangular field sports by AAMI Park in 2011, and was demolished in 2011/12.
• Olympic Park Speedway, located on the site of Olympic Park Stadium, used for motor racing. Demolished 1951 and replaced by Olympic Park Stadium.
• East Melbourne Cricket Ground, located in the north-western corner of Yarra Park, and used for Australian rules football and premier grade cricket. Demolished 1922 to make way for the Jolimont railyards.

Access

The precinct is located adjacent to both the Richmond and Jolimont railway stations; every train servicing the eastern side of Melbourne passes through one of these two stations. The precinct is also serviced by three tram routes from the city centre. Three footbridges are provided to cross the railway lines which divide the northern and southern halves of the precinct. The area in Yarra Park surrounding the Melbourne Cricket Ground is made available for ticketed car parking during major events in the precinct; free parking in the surrounding streets is available but limited.

External links

• Melbourne & Olympic Parks official website
• Melbourne Sports Precinct at Austadiums
• Sports Precinct - Tourism Victoria website