Top facts about Docklands Stadium, Stadium of Walt Disney

Docklands Stadium, often known as Marvel Stadium due to naming rights sponsorship, is a multi-purpose sport and entertainment stadium in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

The project began in October 1997 and was finished in 2000 for

. The stadium's roof can be retracted, and the seating on the ground level may be changed from oval to rectangular.

The stadium, which was built to replace Waverley Park, is mostly used for Australian rules football. The Australian Football League (AFL), which has had exclusive ownership of the arena since 7 October 2016, has its offices in the area.

The stadium is the second-largest in Melbourne, with a capacity of 53,000 spectators for sports.

It has hosted a variety of sporting events, including domestic Twenty20 cricket matches,

soccer home matches, rugby league, and rugby union matches, as well as special events and concerts. The precinct also houses the digital broadcast center for Seven Network.

A race through the top facts about Docklands Stadium, Stadium of Walt Disney

In this article of top facts about Docklands Stadium, we will first go through the history of this field and then travel back in time to see the construction process up-close.

We have also prepared various sections such as other uses of this field and the naming rights and sponsors just for you. Now without further introduction let us move into the article and learn more about this amazing field of Marvel.

Docklands Stadium information

The most important information about Docklands Stadium is presented in the simplest style in this part of

top facts about Docklands Stadium

.

General information

• Name:

  Marvel Stadium

• Former Name:

  Docklands Stadium

• Owner:

  Australian Football League

• Operator:

  Australian Football League

• Capacity:

  56347

Construction information

• Architect:

  Populous

• Builder:

  Baulderstone Hornibrook

• Overall Cost:

  353 million dollars

• Opening date:

  9 March 2000

We've only scratched the surface of the field, so let's move on to the top facts about Docklands Stadium article to discover more about this amazing Melbourne venue.

Docklands Stadium history

Let us start from scratch and talk about the starting point of this magnificent field in this section of top facts about Docklands.

On October 31, 1996, the stadium was unveiled as a more centrally placed successor for the much bigger but aging Waverley Park as the Australian Football League's headquarters.

It was constructed in the Melbourne Docklands, just west of the CBD, a central but mostly desolate industrial sector that had recently begun its own urban redevelopment initiative. Baulderstone Hornibrook began construction on the stadium in October 1997 under the working name "Victoria Stadium," and it was finished in time for the 2000 AFL season.

The stadium was built by the Docklands Stadium Consortium and afterward operated by the Seven Network. On June 21, 2006, the stadium's remaining leasehold stake was sold to James Fielding Funds Management for A$330 million.

Docklands Stadium construction

The stadium, like Waverley Park, was intended primarily for Australian rules football, as opposed to most similar-sized facilities in Australia, which were first built for cricket and then later converted to football.

One of the top facts about Docklands Stadium is that it was the first Australian rules football stadium to be designed with a retractable roof, which has been closed for night matches, wet weather day matches, and occasionally dry weather day matches throughout its history.

It was also the first stadium in Australia to have movable seating, with all four level-one tiers of the stadium being able to be moved up to 18 meters forward into a rectangular configuration.

However, despite this being a key feature of the stadium design, it has rarely been used due to turf damage, time to deploy the seats, and a reduced capacity since the stadium's corner bays became unavailable in a rectangular configuration. Because construction was completed just weeks before the first match, numerous pre-season games had to be rescheduled.

Later development

Later, this field underwent some minor developments and changes about which we will talk in this section of top facts about Docklands stadium.

The stadium's playing surface has been chastised from the start for its slickness, hardness, and lack of grass coverage, as well as the increased risk of injury it poses to players. One of the stadium's biggest concerns is keeping the pitch in good shape.

Because of the stadium's orientation and heavily built-up grandstands, the Northern end of the stadium receives only 6 weeks of sunlight per year; concerts staged at the stadium are normally held near the Southern end because grass recovers more quickly.

During the season, the entire surface is replaced with turf grown externally under contract by HG Turf, however, the responsibility for laying and managing the turf falls to Docklands Stadium management. Since 2007, sophisticated heating and lighting have been in use to better allow grass to be grown and controlled within the stadium.

During the 2010 Victorian storms, a thunderstorm destroyed the venue on the afternoon of March 6, 2010. Gate 2's external roof collapsed, causing floods and damage inside the entertainment area.

The preseason match between St Kilda and Fremantle was postponed due to WorkSafe inspections that evening, however, it was nonetheless played in front of a modest audience of 5000.

LED electronic advertising was installed around the circumference of the ground on levels 1 and 2, as well as a strip of synthetic turf along the edge of the fence, just outside the boundary line, in 2015.

After Brisbane Lions player Michael Close suffered a season-ending ACL injury on the uneven surface during a game in 2015, the synthetic strip was narrowed.

Future plans

The AFL was supposed to win possession of the stadium in 2025 for a nominal $30 charge under the rules of the deal controlling its construction and operation, but the AFL Commission chose to buy exclusive ownership of the stadium early, in October 2016, for around $200 million.

The stadium's tenant AFL clubs benefited millions of dollars as a result of the purchase, as they and the AFL negotiated more favorable tenancy deals.

The stadium was subsequently absorbed into the AFL structure some years later, putting a stop to Melbourne Stadiums Limited's independent operation of the site.

The purchase was also crucial to the AFL's finances during the COVID-19 epidemic, as it was able to use its stadium ownership to get a $500–600 million line of credit to offset cash flow issues when the 2020 AFL season was postponed.

The AFL and the Victorian Government confirmed in April 2018 that the stadium and surrounding area would be redeveloped for $225 million.

The stadium's seating capacity will remain unaltered, however, the reconstruction will improve stadium infrastructure, connect the precinct to the Melbourne CBD, and provide access to the Docklands waterfront.

Two television screens were constructed behind the goals at either end of the stadium and were operational in time for the AFL season in 2022. The construction will begin in late 2021 and end in early 2024.

Docklands stadium firsts

Every stadium has its first and Docklands is no exception. But which match was the maiden game of this stadium? The answer is in this section of

top facts about Docklands stadium

.

The ground's maiden match was between Essendon and Port Adelaide on March 9, 2000, in front of a crowd of 43,012. Essendon won by a score of 94 points, and Michael Long kicked the game's first goal.

The game was supposed to be played beneath a closed roof, but owing to technical difficulties, it had to be played outside. Barbra Streisand headlined the venue's debut event six days later. The third football game at the stadium, between the Western Bulldogs and the Brisbane Lions on March 19, was the first to be held under the roof.

The venue hosted the world's first indoor One Day International between Australia and South Africa on August 16, 2000. In July 2001, a Melbourne Storm game was the first to be played in the rectangular configuration.

Let us talk about the naming rights in the next section of top facts about Dockland stadium.

Docklands stadium sponsors and naming rights

Marvel has its own fans when it comes to the movie industry, especially for its amazing superheroes and superhumans but how did this company get the naming rights of this field?

Throughout its entire working history, the stadium has been covered by naming rights negotiations and has never been known as "Docklands Stadium." When it first opened, Colonial State Bank paid $32.5 million for ten years of naming rights, and the stadium was known as Colonial Stadium.

That same year, Commonwealth Bank acquired Colonial State Bank and began to phase out the brand; Commonwealth then sold the remaining naming rights contract to Telstra for about $50 million, and the stadium was renamed Telstra Dome on October 1, 2002.

During this time, it was referred to as "The Dome" — a term that was actively promoted by clubs sponsored by competing telecommunications firms (such as Essendon with 3 and Carlton with Optus).

Another fact of top facts about Docklands stadium is that the naming rights to Etihad Stadium were given to Etihad Airways on March 1, 2009, under a five-year arrangement that was later extended to ten years, at a cost believed to be between $5–$8 million per year.

Due to its agreement with rival airline Qantas, the AFL did not recognize the new name at first; the league only recognized the new name after lengthy negotiations between the two sides.

After negotiating an eight-year arrangement with the Walt Disney Company (parent company of Marvel Entertainment) to change the naming rights and build a Marvel retail outlet at the arena, the stadium was renamed Marvel Stadium in September 2018.

Docklands stadium other uses

The Melbourne Renegades, who have played their home games at the Docklands Stadium since the league's start in 2011/12, are the venue's main summer tenant. At the site, cricket is played on a drop-in pitch. The stadium was voted Australia's most entertaining T20 cricket venue at the end of the 2016/17 Big Bash.

Between 2006/07 and 2020/21, Melbourne Victory played their home matches at the stadium.

The stadium was supposed to be used just for games against the club's main rivals,

, in the 2006/07 A-League season; however, after the success of that game, the team moved permanently from Olympic Park Stadium to Docklands from the 2006/07 season until the 2009/10 season.

This was the stadium's first significant summer tenant. The team played only high-drawing games and finals at Docklands after the construction of the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in 2010, with all other games being played at the new venue; Victory stopped playing home matches at the stadium in the 2021-22 season.

The stadium served as the Melbourne Storm's permanent home venue during the 2001 National Rugby League season, although the agreement only lasted a year. After that, the team held high-profile home games and finals at Docklands on occasion. Interstate and international rugby league games have also been held at Docklands.

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top facts about Docklands stadium

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