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Melbourne Park
37°49′22″S 144°58′48″E / 37.82267°S 144.98005°E
Melbourne Park is a sports venue in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 1988, Australia's bicentenary, Melbourne Park has been home of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament played annually in January. The park has multiple venues where the Australian Open matches take place. Rod Laver Arena is the largest venue with a capacity of 15,000, while John Cain Arena seats 10,500 and Margaret Court Arena 7,500. The three venues feature retractable roofs, allowing events to be played indoors or outdoors. Other venues include Show Court 3 and 1573 Arena which both have a 3,000 seating capacity, and the new 5,000-seat Kia Arena, which opened in 2022. In total there are 35 outdoor Greenset tennis courts at Melbourne Park.
Melbourne Park is owned by the Victorian Government and managed by the Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust, which also runs the adjacent Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. The Yarra Park section of the Sports and Entertainment Precinct is run separately.
The park was originally known as Flinders Park until 1996, when then-premier Jeff Kennett decided to change the name to Melbourne Park, mainly to advertise the name "Melbourne" to a wide international audience during events held there. The decision was met with opposition, and was compared by some to renaming Stade Roland Garros (home to the French Open in Paris) "Paris Park". However, over the years, the name has become accepted by Melburnians.
Melbourne Park was developed in 1988 beside the Jolimont Yard as a new precinct to host the Australian Open. The previous venue, Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, had become too small for the burgeoning tournament. Construction of the park was completed in 1988 at a cost of at least $94 million. The unveiling of the new precinct was met with incredibly positive reviews by players and spectators, with some labelling the facilities and amenities the best of the four Grand Slams. Another expansion of the precinct occurred in 1996, when a further $23 million was invested to create two fully seated and larger show courts and eight new courts, as well as a large grassy space, now known as Grand Slam Oval.
The organisation responsible for managing the precinct is the Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust, which was established in October 1995 in accordance with the provisions of the amended Melbourne & Olympic Parks Act 1985. In April 2018, Tennis Australia revealed it harboured ambitions to take over management rights of the entire precinct, with the hope of maximising its use for other sporting and cultural events outside of the Australian Open.
While it is best known for being a tennis venue, Melbourne Park also plays host to a number of other sports and musical events throughout the year. The venue tends to be used by more popular international performers, as it is the largest the city has to offer, excluding the Docklands Stadium in the Docklands and the nearby Melbourne Cricket Ground. All three stadium courts/arenas are multi-purpose, being used for a variety of events, including the Australian Open commitments in January, but the Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena venues are most commonly used for music concerts.
Aside from the tennis tournament, which typically attracts crowds in excess of 800,000, the park has facilities that allows other sports to be played regularly at Melbourne Park's arenas, such as netball (Super Netball teams, Melbourne Vixens and Collingwood Magpies play home matches at John Cain Arena and Margaret Court Arena) and basketball (National Basketball League team Melbourne United play home matches at John Cain Arena). In the past Melbourne Park has hosted ice skating, track cycling, international swimming and motorsport events.
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Melbourne Park
37°49′22″S 144°58′48″E / 37.82267°S 144.98005°E
Melbourne Park is a sports venue in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 1988, Australia's bicentenary, Melbourne Park has been home of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament played annually in January. The park has multiple venues where the Australian Open matches take place. Rod Laver Arena is the largest venue with a capacity of 15,000, while John Cain Arena seats 10,500 and Margaret Court Arena 7,500. The three venues feature retractable roofs, allowing events to be played indoors or outdoors. Other venues include Show Court 3 and 1573 Arena which both have a 3,000 seating capacity, and the new 5,000-seat Kia Arena, which opened in 2022. In total there are 35 outdoor Greenset tennis courts at Melbourne Park.
Melbourne Park is owned by the Victorian Government and managed by the Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust, which also runs the adjacent Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. The Yarra Park section of the Sports and Entertainment Precinct is run separately.
The park was originally known as Flinders Park until 1996, when then-premier Jeff Kennett decided to change the name to Melbourne Park, mainly to advertise the name "Melbourne" to a wide international audience during events held there. The decision was met with opposition, and was compared by some to renaming Stade Roland Garros (home to the French Open in Paris) "Paris Park". However, over the years, the name has become accepted by Melburnians.
Melbourne Park was developed in 1988 beside the Jolimont Yard as a new precinct to host the Australian Open. The previous venue, Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, had become too small for the burgeoning tournament. Construction of the park was completed in 1988 at a cost of at least $94 million. The unveiling of the new precinct was met with incredibly positive reviews by players and spectators, with some labelling the facilities and amenities the best of the four Grand Slams. Another expansion of the precinct occurred in 1996, when a further $23 million was invested to create two fully seated and larger show courts and eight new courts, as well as a large grassy space, now known as Grand Slam Oval.
The organisation responsible for managing the precinct is the Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust, which was established in October 1995 in accordance with the provisions of the amended Melbourne & Olympic Parks Act 1985. In April 2018, Tennis Australia revealed it harboured ambitions to take over management rights of the entire precinct, with the hope of maximising its use for other sporting and cultural events outside of the Australian Open.
While it is best known for being a tennis venue, Melbourne Park also plays host to a number of other sports and musical events throughout the year. The venue tends to be used by more popular international performers, as it is the largest the city has to offer, excluding the Docklands Stadium in the Docklands and the nearby Melbourne Cricket Ground. All three stadium courts/arenas are multi-purpose, being used for a variety of events, including the Australian Open commitments in January, but the Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena venues are most commonly used for music concerts.
Aside from the tennis tournament, which typically attracts crowds in excess of 800,000, the park has facilities that allows other sports to be played regularly at Melbourne Park's arenas, such as netball (Super Netball teams, Melbourne Vixens and Collingwood Magpies play home matches at John Cain Arena and Margaret Court Arena) and basketball (National Basketball League team Melbourne United play home matches at John Cain Arena). In the past Melbourne Park has hosted ice skating, track cycling, international swimming and motorsport events.