Newcastle Entertainment Centre is a multi-purpose Australian

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

within the Newcastle Showgrounds. It was opened in 1992 at a cost of . The centre's original tenant was the

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

NBL team who moved to the new venue in 1992 from their previous home at the

Broadmeadow Basketball Stadium The Broadmeadow Basketball Stadium, also known as the Newcastle Basketball Stadium, is an indoor basketball stadium located in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia and was the original home of the Newcastle Falcons of the National Basketball ...

. After the Falcons folded at the end of the 1999 season its only tenant was the

Hunter Jaegers Hunter Jaegers were an Australian netball team based in Newcastle, New South Wales. Together with Sydney Swifts and Sydney Sandpipers, they were one of three teams to represent Netball New South Wales in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. H ...

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 ...

team who played in the

Commonwealth Bank Trophy The Commonwealth Bank Trophy, also referred to as the National Netball League, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1997 and 2007. The league was organized by Netball Australia. Its main sponsor was the Commonwealth Ba ...

. The Jaegers played in the centre from 1997 until 2008. From 2003 the NEC served as the home court for another NBL team, the Hunter Pirates (formerly the

Canberra Cannons The Canberra Cannons are a defunct basketball team that competed in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL). They went into financial administration in 2003 and were relocated to Newcastle, where they became the Hunter Pirates. After t ...

before the team was moved to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

to become the

Singapore Slingers The Singapore Slingers is a Singaporean professional basketball team that currently compete in the ASEAN Basketball League. The Slingers were known as the JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers between 2009 and 2014, due to sponsorship ties with Job ...

after the 2005-06 NBL season). The Newcastle Showgrounds themselves also housed the early

Newcastle Rebels Newcastle were a rugby league team who played in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership from 1908–1909, one of the nine foundation clubs. After the formation of several clubs in January 1908, members of the NSWRFL came to Newc ...

back in 1908-1909. This

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 ...

franchise played two seasons in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership. The Entertainment Centre is renowned for being one of Australia's most flexible

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

s, able to accommodate sports events, various performances and expos. The Newcastle Show uses the Centre for various displays and the showbag area. The stadium has also played host to some of

Kostya Tszyu Konstantin Borisovich "Kostya" Tszyu (; rus, Константин Борисович «Костя» Цзю, , kənstɐnʲˈtʲin bɐˈrisəvʲɪtɕ ˈkosʲtʲə ˈdzːʲu; born 19 September 1969) is a Russian Australian former professional b ...

's early fights as an Australian-based fighter. The venue has a listed

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 4,658 The stadium is air-conditioned (installed as a requirement of the NBL when it moved to playing in the summer), equipped with top-grade lights, and also has scoreboards used for basketball and netball games. The venue is owned by Venues NSW and operated by

ASM Global The Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), also known as AEG Worldwide, is an American global sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports event ...

Purpose

The Newcastle Entertainment Centre was built as a multi-purpose facility to host concerts, sporting events, exhibitions and functions.

Modes

Concert

The Centre has the following capacities in its different concert modes: * General Admission mode - up to 7,528 patrons * End Stage mode - up to 6,193 patrons seated * Reduced mode - variable between 2,500 and 7,528 patrons Curtaining allows the adapting of the venues to suit more intimate modes for performers. The centre has played host to concerts by many nationally and internationally renowned performers including

Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...

, Cher,

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

, John Farnham,

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

, Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry, Pet Shop Boys,

P!nk Alecia Beth Moore Hart (born September 8, 1979), known professionally as Pink (stylized as P!nk), is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She was originally a member of the girl group Choice. In 1995, LaFace Records saw potential ...

Powderfinger Powderfinger were an Australian rock band formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their break-up in 2010, the line-up consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bass guitarist John Collins and drumme ...

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

Silverchair Silverchair were an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Ben Gillies on drums, Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got their big bre ...

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

and

The Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. The group are currently composed of Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Tsehay Hawkins, as well as supporting members Evie Ferris, John Pearce, ...

Sports

The Centre has hosted numerous basketball, netball, boxing, bull riding, ice staking and tennis events. In sports mode, the Centre can accommodate between 2,000 and 5,000 patrons. When Newcastle's team competed in the

NSWRFL Premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sou ...

in 1908 and

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Jan ...

, the Newcastle Showground was used as the team's home ground. The Newcastle Showground has also been home to Motorcycle speedway on and off since 1926, including hosting the first five recognised Australian Solo Championships. The showground speedway also hosted the Australian Sidecar Speedway Championship in 2010.Australian Sidecar Championship Honour Board
/ref> Originally a ½ mile () track, its length has been reduced in recent years by about half.

Exhibition

The seating in the venue is fully retractable providing 4,100 square metres of clear span exhibition space.

Function

The Centre is able to host functions catering up to 2,000 guests.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Defunct National Basketball League (Australia) venues Basketball venues in Australia Netball venues in New South Wales Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle Falcons (basketball) Music venues in Australia Indoor arenas in Australia Boxing venues in Australia Sports venues in New South Wales Sports venues completed in 1992 New South Wales Swifts