Rod Laver Arena

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Rod Laver Arena sits at the heart of Melbourne Park, and on the 11th of January 1988, it opened its doors for the first time to host the Australian Open. The cost to build it had reached AU$94 million. The builder, Civil & Civic, had started work in 1985, replacing Kooyong Stadium, which had grown too old and too small for the world's biggest tennis tournament.

  But tennis is only part of the story. The same venue that hosts Grand Slam finals has also staged swimming championships, esports playoffs, NBA pre-season games, and a record-breaking run of concerts by a single artist. How does an arena carry all of that? And how did a suggestion from a state premier in 1980 change the way the world builds sports venues forever?

• 2. A Roof Unlike Any Other

  ›

  Around 1980, John Cain, the Premier of Victoria, proposed something that had never been done at a tennis venue: a roof that could move. Tennis Australia had asked the government to build an open-air facility alongside a government project for a closed-roof entertainment centre. Cain suggested combining the two ideas. The result was a retractable roof, the first ever installed at a tennis venue anywhere in the world, and the first on any arena of any kind in Australia.

  The practical value of that roof became clear to anyone who watched matches in Melbourne's unpredictable summer heat. Players could keep competing during rain or extreme heat without interruption. The original roof took 30 minutes to close. After a major refurbishment completed in late December 2018, that time dropped to five minutes.

  The refurbishment itself was substantial. It formed the main component of a AU$338 million second stage of redevelopments across Melbourne Park. A new pedestrian bridge connected Melbourne Park to Birrarung Marr. A new media and administration centre was built. Inside the arena, a new four-level Player Pod gave athletes more space for training, treatment, recovery, dining, and rest. The eastern facade was opened up with a new primary entrance and an expanded public concourse.

• 3. The Name Behind the Name

  ›

  For its first eight years, the arena carried the name National Tennis Centre at Flinders Park. On the 29th of January 1996, it became simply Centre Court. Then, on the 16th of January 2000, it was renamed a third and final time to honour Rod Laver, a three-time winner of the Australian Open and one of the most respected players in the history of the game.

  Laver is widely considered the best player of his generation. The tribute is not purely ceremonial. Laver has been a frequent guest of honour at the Australian Open and has personally presented the trophy to the men's singles champion on several occasions.

  The arena's connection to Davis Cup history runs alongside its association with Laver. In 2003, Rod Laver Arena hosted both the semi-final and the Final of the Davis Cup, where Australia claimed their 28th Davis Cup title. The arena also installed the Hawk-Eye Live line-calling system, which replaced human line judges entirely from the 2021 Australian Open onward.

• 4. Basketball's Melbourne Home

  ›

  The arena's first basketball game took place in 1991, when the Australian Boomers hosted a touring All-Star team headlined by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Over 15,000 people were in attendance. The following year, on the 3rd of April 1992, the Melbourne Tigers defeated the Canberra Cannons 112-104, and the arena officially became the home of Melbourne basketball.

  Early criticism focused on the poor quality of the backboards and rings. Those problems were fixed quickly, and the venue became regarded as one of the best basketball arenas in the country, particularly when crowds approached full capacity. Two Melbourne teams called it home: the Melbourne Tigers and the South East Melbourne Magic, which later became the Victoria Titans after merging with the North Melbourne Giants in 1998.

  The arena's basketball record attendance was set on the 22nd of June 1996, when 15,366 people watched a local derby between the Magic and the Tigers. That figure remains the second largest NBL attendance ever recorded in Australia. Game two of the 1996 NBL Grand Final, also between the Magic and Tigers, drew 15,064 fans and set the record for the largest single-game Grand Final crowd in NBL history. The Magic won that game 88-84.

  By the time the arena hosted its last NBL game in April 2000, it had staged 287 NBL contests, including championship deciders in 1992, 1996, 1997, and 1999. One notable moment came on the 31st of December 1997, when the Magic hosted the Adelaide 36ers with the retractable roof open, making it the first ever outdoor professional basketball game held in Australia. The Boomers also used the arena for the 1997 FIBA Under-22 World Championship, which Australia won for the first time.

• 5. Concerts and Records

  ›

  On the 18th of November 2007, Justin Timberlake set the arena's all-time attendance record: 16,183 people packed in for a show on his FutureSex/LoveShow tour. That number remains the benchmark for every event since.

  By 2009, the arena had ranked ninth out of 50 top arenas worldwide for first-quarter ticket sales. By 2012, it had climbed to fourth in the world and first in Australia based on 2011 figures, surpassing Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena for that year.

  No artist has tested the arena's capacity more consistently than Pink. She played 17 shows during her Funhouse Tour in 2009, then broke her own record with 18 shows during the Truth About Love Tour in 2013. Her total across all visits stands at 53 shows, the most by any single artist at the venue.

  Beyonce performed there multiple times between 2002 and 2013, both as a member of Destiny's Child and as a solo artist. Her 2013 run on The Mrs Carter Show World Tour comprised four sold-out shows, selling over 47,000 tickets and generating nearly 8 million dollars. Billie Eilish returned to the arena in 2025 on her Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour, performing on the 4th, 5th, 7th, and the 8th of March as part of the final Australian dates of that tour.

• 6. Beyond Tennis and Basketball

  ›

  The 12th FINA World Aquatics Championships came to Rod Laver Arena from the 17th of March to the 1st of April 2007. A temporary pool was built at significant cost inside the arena and named the Susie O'Neill Pool, after Australian swimming champion Susie O'Neill. The venue also served as the gymnastics host for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

  On the 10th of February 2019, UFC 234 took place there, billed as Adesanya vs. Silva. In September 2023, the arena hosted NHL pre-season ice hockey on two consecutive nights, with the Arizona Coyotes facing the Los Angeles Kings. On the 11th of March 2025, the NBA, the NBL, and the Victoria State Government jointly announced that the New Orleans Pelicans would play two exhibition games at the arena as part of the NBA x NBL: Melbourne Series, facing Melbourne United on the 3rd of October 2025 and the South East Melbourne Phoenix two days later.

  The arena also entered esports. Rod Laver Arena was one of three venues for the Melbourne Esports Open across the 31st of August and the 1st of September 2019, hosting regional tournaments across League of Legends, Overwatch, and Rainbow Six Siege. In April 2025, it hosted the playoffs of the Intel Extreme Masters Melbourne 2025 tournament for Counter-Strike 2. That event drew a peak of 1.25 million concurrent viewers during its stream, making it the most watched tournament held in Australia.