{"id":14377,"date":"2026-05-19T15:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T15:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/14377\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T15:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T15:02:08","slug":"sydneys-biggest-arena-is-changing-its-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/14377\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney&#8217;s Biggest Arena Is Changing Its Name"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sydney\u2019s Qudos Bank Arena is getting a major rebrand, with a new naming rights deal set to usher in sweeping changes to how fans pay for concerts, food, drinks and merchandise.<\/p>\n<p>In a partnership announced today, Afterpay will take over naming rights for the venue, meaning it will become Afterpay Arena in the coming months as part of an initial five-year agreement.<\/p>\n<p>The deal marks the first time a major Australian entertainment venue will offer integrated payment flexibility across the entire customer experience, from ticket purchases through to in-venue transactions. The partnership combines Afterpay\u2019s buy-now-pay-later platform with Square payment technology, allowing concertgoers to split ticket costs into four interest-free instalments while also streamlining food, beverage and merchandise purchases inside the venue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLive experiences are one of the more meaningful ways people choose to spend their time. We wanted to be the brand that makes sure nothing gets in the way of that,\u201d said Afterpay\u2019s co-founder and CEO Nick Molnar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we\u2019ve built here is genuinely end-to-end \u2013 the flexibility starts when you buy your ticket and carries through to fans\u2019 meal and a piece of merch on the night. Square\u2019s technology makes every transaction as fast as possible, because every second you\u2019re standing in line for merch is a second you\u2019re not in the moment you came for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The announcement comes as live entertainment costs continue to climb in Australia. According to new research commissioned by Afterpay, 94% of Australians impacted by cost-of-living pressures have skipped events because of upfront ticket expenses, while 58% said flexible payment options would make them more likely to attend live events.<\/p>\n<p>Since opening in 1999 with a performance by Luciano Pavarotti, the 21,000-capacity venue has become one of Australia\u2019s premier live entertainment destinations, hosting artists including Billie Eilish, R\u00dcF\u00dcS DU SOL and TWICE, alongside major sporting events, comedy tours and family entertainment productions.<\/p>\n<p>Love Film &amp; TV?<\/p>\n<p class=\"observer-desc mb-2\"> Get your daily dose of everything happening in music, film and TV in Australia and abroad.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images-r2-2.thebrag.com\/common\/spinner.png\" width=\"30\" height=\"30\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The venue recently ranked as the fifth-highest grossing arena globally in Billboard\u2019s 2025 venue rankings, while its 15 millionth ticket sale was recorded during Linkin Park\u2019s 2026 world tour.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are obsessed with enhancing the guest experience at every interaction, and we know Afterpay\u2019s popularity with Australian audiences means they now have another option to secure tickets,\u201d said Harvey Lister, president and CEO of Legends Global Asia Pacific &amp; Middle East, the venue\u2019s operator.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore than 1.1 million people walk through this Arena\u2019s doors every year, and this partnership represents a significant evolution in how Australians access live entertainment. Afterpay\u2019s five-year commitment is a genuine investment in Australian culture and in every single one of those fans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A full physical transformation of the venue is already underway, including new exterior signage, refreshed interiors and integrated Afterpay and Square branding throughout the arena.<\/p>\n<p>Until the transition is completed, the venue will continue operating as Qudos Bank Arena while maintaining its existing events calendar.<\/p>\n<p> optional screen readerRead More About:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sydney\u2019s Qudos Bank Arena is getting a major rebrand, with a new naming rights deal set to usher&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[14806,14807,14808,14809,14810,14811,14812,247,14813],"class_list":["post-14377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sydney","tag-afterpay","tag-afterpay-arena","tag-harvey-lister","tag-legends-global","tag-nick-molnar","tag-qudos-bank-arena","tag-qudos-bank-arena-name","tag-sydney","tag-sydney-arena"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}