Exploring Melbourne’s Mega Arena, the Docklands Stadium

Described by many as a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium, Melbourne's Docklands is perhaps most popular as the globe's first and only, fully enclosed indoor cricket arena. Best remembered for its cameo appearance in the 2007 Nicholas Cage film "Ghost Rider" and other TV and film credits, this mega arena was originally constructed in late 1997 at a whopping cost of $ 460 million.
With the capacity to host 12,000- 74,000 spectators, Docklands of Etihad Stadium as it's now known is a sports arena that can host a variety of sporting and entertainment events. Featuring state-of the-art engineering feats and attributes, the stadium is best known for its retractable roof which takes less than 9 minutes to enclose and open. Other notable characteristics include its mobile seating arrangements, 19,053 sq meter playing surface in addition to its 2500 vehicle capacity below-deck car park. Illuminated with 700 to 2000 watt lighting equipment, the stadium also features 1000 video seats, 66 corporate boxes, 13 function quarters and an external superscreen while instant replay is available via the area's two massive replay screens.
Renowned as the headquarters of the AFL (Australian Football League), Docklands has been the venue of choice for cricket, rugby and soccer matches as well as musical events. Concerts for acclaimed musicians with the likes of Bruce Springsteen,Robbie Williams, Barbra Streisand, Bon Jovi, U2, Kiss and Green Day have taken place at the arena while WWE wrestling matches and boxing contests have also taken centre stage at the locale. The 2006 Commonwealth Games' Rugby 7s quarterfinals were also held here in addition to the pairing between Australia and England in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. The biggest crowd draw at Docklands so far has been the Catholic Jubilee Mass which attracted nearly 70,000 people while the biggest entertainment event was 2006's Robbie Williams Close Encounters concert which saw over 66,500 screaming fans flocking to the arena.

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