The Australian Sports Museum (formerly the National Sports Museum) is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

dedicated to Australian sport and is located within the Melbourne Cricket Ground in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia. There are exhibits for sports such as

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

, Australian rules football, the Summer and

Winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

, soccer,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

. The Australian Sports Hall of Fame is also located within the museum along with the Australian Racing Museum and the Melbourne Cricket Club Museum. The adjoining MCC Museum features exhibitions relating to the history of the

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, ...

. On 6 October 2010, the Australian Racing Museum was absorbed into the Australian Sports Museum, which has now resulted in horse racing standing alongside other prominent Australian sports. The museum was called the National Sports Museum, and closed in August 2019 for a $17.1 million redevelopment ($5 million of which was contributed by the state government). It is set to re-open (with the new name) in February 2020. The adjoining MCC Museum features exhibitions relating to the history of the

Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum

Before the Australian Sports Museum opened, the Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum operated for 17 years before it closed. The museum was located in front of the former MCC Members Stand which opened in 1928, which was demolished at the same time as the museum. It initially opened on 22 November 1986 before closing to the public on 4 October 2003. More than 35,000 went through the museum in its final week in operation, when it was opened to the public for free in conjunction with access to the former MCC Members Pavilion.

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* * {{coord, display=title, -37.818921, 144.984249, type:landmark_region:AU Melbourne Cricket Ground Museums in Melbourne Sports museums in Australia Sport in Melbourne 1986 establishments in Australia 2008 establishments in Australia