The president of Live Nation Australia and Tennis Australia\u2019s former boss have led industry calls for a new 20,000-seat indoor arena in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
\u201cMelbourne has always been one of the strongest live entertainment cities in the world, and certainly Australia,\u2019\u2019 Live Nation Australia boss, Alex Klos, told the Herald Sun.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been very strong advocates for a number of years now, for the need for a 20,000-seat arena in Melbourne.\u201d<\/p>\n
The call for the new arena was echoed by outgoing Tennis Australia chief executive, Craig Tiley.<\/p>\n
Mr Tiley said a new roofed \u201cmultipurpose\u201d arena should be at the top of Melbourne\u2019s to-do list to ensure our city remains a world leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the next piece of build that needs to take place,\u2019\u2019 he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAn 18, 19, 20,000-seat venue would be ideal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Tiley said the new arena should be built in the Melbourne and Olympic Parks precinct, in addition to venues already used for the Australian Open, NRL, NBL, A League and Super Netball matches.<\/p>\n
Industry experts say the new arena would put Melbourne in the box seat to bid for more global major events such as NBA and NHL matches, UFC and boxing blockbusters.<\/p>\n
It would also host indoor athletics, esports drawcards as well as concerts, helping the city reclaim its swagger and status as the nation\u2019s sports and cultural capital. <\/p>\n
Live Nation is the concert promotions giant behind world tours by Madonna, Beyonce, Coldplay, Oasis, Lady Gaga, Metallica, U2, The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Bruno Mars, and many more. <\/p>\n
The city\u2019s biggest indoor concert venue, the multipurpose Rod Laver Arena, opened in 1988 as the National Tennis Centre, and can host 15,000 concertgoers.<\/p>\n
Margaret Court Arena holds 6500 people in concert mode, and John Cain Arena, 11,000. <\/p>\n
Mr Klos said the number of arena shows by music artists has \u201ceasily doubled\u201d since the pre-Covid era. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe demand is there from fans, and the supply is there from an artist point of view,\u201d Mr Klos said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut we are challenged on availability. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs good as our precinct at Melbourne Park is, and Rod Laver Arena is a fantastic venue, it does have limitations around its capacity and functionality.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a scale point of view, we need a second arena, and it needs to be a bigger arena. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need that extra capacity to make the economics stack up more favourably for the promoter, and for the artist.<\/p>\n
\u201cA 20,000 seater arena is the sweet spot for a major international city. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at any developments around the world now, for major cities and new arenas, they\u2019re all in that 20,000 seat capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Klos said the concert promotion company is \u201cnot weathered to any one location\u201d for a new arena in Melbourne. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe first priority is, we need it. It\u2019s important to our industry,\u201d Mr Klos said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are certainly a lot of benefits and synergies putting it into Melbourne Park precinct because you\u2019ve got facilitating infrastructure like trains, access and proximity to the CBD. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat precinct lends itself to putting a 20,000 cap arena there, but we\u2019re flexible. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere could be other locations. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about ease of access. The fans need to get there easily to attend a show, and get home at the end of the night.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mr Klos said the best comparison of Melbourne\u2019s need for a new arena is Manchester. <\/p>\n
With a greater metropolitan population of around 2.9 million people, Manchester successfully supports both the AO Arena (21,000 capacity) and Co-op Live (23,500 capacity), located just four kilometres apart. <\/p>\n
Together, those venues attracted about 1.8 million attendees in 2025, demonstrating how strong entertainment markets can sustain multiple major arenas while enticing a broad range of international touring, sporting and live entertainment content.<\/p>\n
\u201cMelbourne is definitely of the scale to support our belief that a second arena is absolutely warranted,\u201d Mr Klos said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not short of getting tier-one artists to perform in Melbourne at this point in time. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s become more challenging from the point of view that international competition is far more fierce now than it was five years ago. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you turn the clock back five years, the big touring markets were North America, Canada, UK, and Australia was probably number 4 on the list.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow you\u2019ve got all these markets opening up in South America, the Middle East, Asia, and eastern Europe. Those markets are investing infrastructure, so there\u2019s much more global competition to get the artists to come to Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said touring acts consider several factors before committing to dates Down Under. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey look at things like, \u2018Are there fans, or demand in that market, and will I sell tickets?\u2019 \u201cClearly, Australia ticks those boxes. Then they look at distance and costs to get here. That\u2019s where Australia is challenged compared to these other markets. <\/p>\n
\u201cThen they look at infrastructure, the venues, and how those venues will allow them to maximise their earnings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Klos added: \u201cIf you\u2019ve only got a venue that can hold 14,000 or 15,000 people at best, compared to markets that have 20,000 or greater capacity venues, you do the economics: you can sell an extra 5000 tickets at every show you do. At an average ticket price, there is quite a lot of extra money for the artist to make that show more attractive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Promoter Paul Dainty, who has toured the Rolling Stones, Katy Perry, Eminem and Paul McCartney, supported the call for another arena. But he raised concerns about the cost.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho would pay for it in the current economic climate?\u201d Mr Dainty asked.<\/p>\n
Mr Klos said Live Nation is \u201copen\u201d to investing in a new 20,000-seat arena in Melbourne. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very vocal about our ambitions around that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a global priority to invest in venues because they are critical to continue to grow and drive the industry. But what we\u2019ve always said is, the first priority for Melbourne, and for Australia more broadly, is we need more infrastructure. <\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone has to make that investment, and typically, you would expect the government to fund social infrastructure. That\u2019s the traditional model; government funds these assets and builds them. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut governments don\u2019t always have the money and capacity to do that. We\u2019ve certainly said we\u2019re happy to take the baton and do the heavy lifting, and make that investment to bring it to life because they are critical pieces of infrastructure that creates jobs, and brings economic benefits from venues that attract entertainment. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re certainly open to investing if there\u2019s an opportunity, but we\u2019re also happy if the government wants to build it,\u201d Mr Klos said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing is, if you push the button on a new arena today, it would take four or five years to bring it to life.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mr Klos said consideration should be given to a music-centric arena.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cAll of our venues in Australia have been built with a focus on sport. What we\u2019d love to see is that model flipped the other way around; to build it for music, but it would cater for sport as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tennis boss Tiley said a new arena should tap into changing consumer habits, as well as technology such as AI and robotics.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to adapt that with our infrastructure and our infrastructure gets old really quickly,\u2019\u2019 Mr Tiley said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have a new arena, you\u2019ve got look at not just a new seat … but how is that seat completely interacted with the needs of that consumer. You\u2019ve gotta have connectivity.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to think of a modern design and a modern way of delivering it because the moment you start building it and you have people in the first time, it\u2019s going to be dated.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cIf we build a 20,000 seat stadium today, if we build it for today\u2019s needs, that\u2019d be a mistake. You\u2019ve got to build it full for the future needs.\u2019\u2019 <\/p>\n
Lord Mayor Nick Reece backed in the need for a speciality 20,000-seat arena to ensure the city remained a world leader in live events.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe definitely need to be having a look at this,\u201d Mr Reece told ABC Melbourne on Mondy<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do need to keep up with other cities as the market for these sports and big entertainment gigs moves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Reece highlighted the Fishermans Bend urban renewal project as a potential location for a new stadium, as opposed to the \u201cwell-used\u201d Olympic Boulevard strip.<\/p>\n
Victorian Premier Ben Carroll said Melbourne needed to remain a major events capital, but noted he was focused on delivering the basics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be a premier that focuses on doing the essentials and the basics really well,\u201d he said on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cSchools, breakfast programs, fixing potholes and filling them, not admiring them, making sure health and education are front and centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cBig, complex, costly projects will always have their role, and in relation to Melbourne Park, they should always be considering what is the next best thing and big thing for Melbourne and Victoria as a major events capital \u2026 But my focus right now is doing the basics.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The president of Live Nation Australia and Tennis Australia\u2019s former boss have led industry calls for a 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