Sydney Entertainment Centre

Qantas Credit Union Arena

Former names	Sydney Entertainment Centre (1983–2014)
Location	Haymarket, Sydney
Coordinates	33°52′42″S 151°12′10″E
Owner	Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority
Operator	AEG Ogden
Capacity	Total: 13,250 Basketball: 10,517
Construction
Broke ground	1981
Opened	1 May 1983
Tenants
Sydney Kings (NBL) (1990–2008, 2010–) Sydney Flames (WNBL)

The Sydney Entertainment Centre, now known as the Qantas Credit Union Arena, is a multi-purpose venue, located in Haymarket, Sydney, Australia. It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished to make way for a new railway. The centre is currently owned by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, which administers the neighbouring Darling Harbour area, and managed under a lease. It is one of Sydney's larger concert venues, licenced to accommodate over 13,000 people as a conventional theatre or 8,000 as a theatre-in-the-round. The centre's only regular tenant is the Sydney Kings who play in the National Basketball League. The SEC, known as the "Kingdome" during Kings home games has a capacity of 10,517 for basketball.

It averages an attendance of 1 million people each year and hosts concerts, family shows, sporting events and corporate events.

Notable events

Elton John has played numerous concerts there over the years, including eight dates in 1986 with an orchestra. The latter shows were some of the last he performed prior to throat surgery. Having played over 40 shows at the Entertainment Centre.

In 1986, Dire Straits finished its 1985–86 world tour by playing 21 consecutive shows at the venue.

Genesis played 9 dates at the 1986 leg of the Invisible Touch Tour (25–27 November and 15–20 December). Some of the songs were performed with an Australian string section. Archives 2 – disc 2 holds a version of "Your Own Special Way" recorded at SEC.

David Bowie recorded his performances on 7 and 9 November 1987 from his worldwide Glass Spider Tour for release on video and CD at the Entertainment Centre.

American rock band Pearl Jam played two nights in 1995 (10–11 March) during the Vitalogy Tour, three nights (9, 11, 12 March 1998) during the Yield Tour and another three nights (11, 13, 14 February 2003) at the venue during the Riot Act Tour.

Two of the Beatles have performed at the venue, Paul McCartney for three sellout shows in March 1993, and George Harrison made a surprise appearance at a Deep Purple concert in 1984.

Gloria Estefan performed on 10, 12 and 13 April 1997 for her Evolution World Tour.

Mariah Carey performed on 2 and 6 February 1998, for her Butterfly World Tour, a one off concert in January 2013, and again on 10 November 2014 for the The Elusive Chanteuse Show.

The cream of Australian music, almost every major music act of the time, including INXS, Angels, Divinyls, Dragon, The Saints, Men At Work, and many others, performed at the Oz for Africa concert on Friday 11 July 1985, broadcast live across Australia, and segments were broadcast to the world as part of Bob Geldof's "Live Aid".

Cher performed three shows during her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour on 3, 4 and 7 March 2005.

Kylie Minogue has played 25 concerts there, she finished her On A Night Like This Tour, after playing 11 nights there and kicked off her Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour in November 2006. In 20 March 2015, Minogue will perform as part of her Kiss Me Once Tour.

Pop rock superstar P!nk performed (a then record-breaking) seven shows there during her 2007 I'm Not Dead Tour. In 2009, with her Funhouse Tour, in support of the number one album, she played a record 12 shows. She recorded her current live DVD at the SEC. P!nk has also announced she will play 8 shows at the SEC in late 2013 on her The Truth About Love Tour.

It also hosts international circuses and shows, such as Disney on Ice and Hugh Jackman's The Boy from Oz.

It is used annually for The Schools Spectacular, which features over 3,000 young performers from across NSW as well as the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge.

It is the place where the IBO Cruiser-weight title boxing match between Antonio Tarver and Danny Green took place on 20 July 2011.

Asian pop legend, "God of Songs" Jacky Cheung on 1 October 2011, as part of his Jacky Cheung 1/2 Century World Tour.

In 2011 and 2012, it played host to the Sydney judges' audition stages of the Seven Network singer search programme The X Factor.

Series Number	Date
3	Thursday 3 June and Friday 3 June 2011
4	17–19 May 2012

In June 2013, the venue was host to four sold out performances of the Andrew Lloyd Webber Rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.

In December 2013, the Centre was host to great concert of American rock band Bon Jovi. It was the band's first show in the Sydney Entertainment Centre after many stadium concerts across Australia.

In January 2014, Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire performed the second headline show of its Reflektor world tour at the venue to a sell-out audience.

On 8 March 2014, American pop star Bruno Mars performed at the venue in front of a sold out crowd for his Moonshine Jungle Tour.

Sporting events

As a sporting venue, the SEC is best known as the home venue of the Sydney Kings who play in the National Basketball League (NBL). Other sports such as boxing, tennis and indoor motor-cross have also been held there.

The SEC hosted the 1991 World Netball Championships, as well as the 1994 FIBA Women's World Championship.

In the 2000 Summer Olympics, the SEC was the venue for volleyball.

Closure and Planned Demolition

In line with a $1 billion make over of the Darling Harbour precinct by the NSW government, the Sydney Entertainment Centre is going to be demolished in late 2015 or 2016. The replacement facilities will be a larger "Red Carpet" convention centre with a seating capacity of 8,000, and a convention room that is expected to be the largest in the world.

External links

• Official website
• Sydney Entertainment Centre at Austadiums