Sydney SuperDome

About

The Sydney SuperDome, currently known as the Qudos Bank Arena under a naming rights deal, is a multipurpose arena in Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales, Australia. It was completed in 1999 as part of the facilities for the 2000 Summer Olympics. In May 2026, it was announced that the arena was set to be renamed to Afterpay Arena from July 2026, as part of a new five-year naming rights deal.

The Sydney SuperDome was designed by Cox Architecture and Yaeger Architecture, and constructed and financed by Abigroup and Obayashi Corporation under a BOOT deal. It was opened by Premier of New South Wales Bob Carr in November 1999 with the first event being a performance by Luciano Pavarotti. In 2004, the management rights until 2031 were sold to Publishing & Broadcasting Limited. The use of the Superdome name was subject to a trade mark dispute with the New Orleans Superdome.

The development of the stadium was part of three subsites which also included a 3,400-space carpark which cost $25 million, and a plaza with external works, also costing $25 million. The roof's masts reach 42 metres (138 ft) above ground level, and the stadium occupies a site of 20,000 m 2 (220,000 sq ft; 4.9 acres).

The venue is currently managed by Legends Global. The arena has a total capacity of 21,032 with a seating capacity of around 18,000, making the SuperDome the largest permanent indoor sports and entertainment venue in Australia.

The arena was known as the Sydney SuperDome from opening in 1999 until 11 May 2006, when it was renamed Acer Arena in a naming rights deal. The naming rights were subsequently purchased by Allphones from 1 September 2011. Since 11 April 2016, the venue has been known as Qudos Bank Arena.

On 20 May 2026, it was announced that it will be renamed to Afterpay Arena as part of a new five-year naming rights deal.

The Sydney SuperDome is designed at an average capacity of 18,000 seated, with a maximum possible capacity of 21,032. The SuperDome's bowl is rearrangeable in various modes to accommodate for sports events, concerts, and the like, and the venue's capacity fluctuates depending on the event hosted. The floor of the venue measures 48 m (157 ft) by 78 m (256 ft) at its maximum extent. The venue is created from 5,696m 3 of concrete, 1,884 tonnes of reinforcing steel, and is topped with a 1,235 tonne roof structure. 18 steel masts suspend from the zinc and aluminium -composed and alloy-coated steel roof, which is tensioned by cables stretching from the top of each mast to the center of the roof. The interior ceiling of the venue is decorated in a corrugated steel profile, heavily insulated with materials such as numerous copies of unused Yellow pages telephone directories.

Various measures were made at the request of the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games for environmentally friendly design measures. In its early years, the Sydney SuperDome used renewable energy for a fraction of its power supply, provided by EnergyAustralia 's green power scheme. The venue saw use of green power through a deal with EnergyAustralia that lasted the duration of the 2000 Summer Olympics and the five years following. The SuperDome's power architecture includes 1,176 photovoltaic solar panels, installed on the arena's roof, which provide 10% of the venue's daily energy consumption, estimated at ~8612 MWh annually. Energy efficient lighting and heating/cooling systems were also installed in the venue. The roof's drainage system consists over 2000m of high-density polyethylene pipes, in addition to nearly 3000m of cast iron and copper pipes used in the venue's plumbing system, and 1000m of vitrified clay pipes that make up the SuperDome's surrounding stormwater drainage system. The SuperDome was also one of many venues built at Sydney Olympic Park that made use of recycled timber, used to construct the exterior balconies of the venue. The timber was sourced from Kempsey, and Oberon, along with local sources in Sydney. Additionally, polypropylene seats with nylon arms and mountings make up the SuperDome's stands. A disagreement over the construction of the roof resulted in lead contractor Abigroup terminating the contract of ABB.

The arena is home to many major entertainment and conference events and is a venue of choice for major entertainment promoters.

- Hillsong Conference (2001–2010, 2012–2019)

- Sydney Kings Home Venue (1999–2002, 2016–present)

- NSW Schools Spectacular (2016–present)

- Intel Extreme Masters Sydney (2017–2019)

On 11 December 1999, a league record 17,803 spectators attended a NBL match between the Sydney Kings and West Sydney Razorbacks. [ citation needed ] The record has since been eclipsed twice by Kings games at the Superdome. On 10 March 2023 18,049 fans watched the Sydney Kings defeat the New Zealand Breakers in Game 3 of the 2023 NBL Grand Final series. Just five days later the current record of 18,124 attended the deciding Game 5 of the series where the Kings defeated the Breakers to win the Championship.

During the 2000 Olympic Games, the venue hosted the men's and women's basketball finals, and the artistic and trampoline gymnastics events. In the men's basketball, the Bronze medal playoff won by Lithuania 89-71 over host nation Australia, and the Gold Medal playoff, won by the United States 85-75 over France, drew 14,833 fans to the arena. The permanent seating capacity of the SuperDome was reduced to approximately 15,500 during the Olympics due to the usual large number of seats allocated for the media.

In 2001, the SuperDome was the host of the ATP World Tour Finals Tennis Masters Cup won by Australian World number one men's tennis player Lleyton Hewitt, defeating Frenchman Sébastien Grosjean in the Final 6–3, 6–3, 6–4.

On 13 November 2004, the SuperDome attracted the record attendance for a netball game in Australia when 14,339 turned out to see the Australian Netball Diamonds defeat the New Zealand Silver Ferns, 54–49.

On 28 July 2008, an ANZ Championship -record 12,999 fans saw the New South Wales Swifts defeat the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic, 65–56, in the ANZ Championship Grand Final at the Acer Arena.

On 3 July 2009, Taiwanese pop singer Jay Chou came to Sydney as part of The World Tour. It became the number one box office record holder for Allphones Arena, and has stayed in this position ever since. In that concert he broke 11 records in Australia including largest audience (15,200), highest total sponsored amount and highest production cost ($480 000). The box office reached US$2.6 million, out-grossing Beyoncé and The Eagles placing him at rank 2 worldwide.

On 17 November 2014, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, addressed Indians residing in Australia.