Sydney entertainment venue the Qudos Bank Arena will be renamed Afterpay Arena.
Sydney entertainment venue the Qudos Bank Arena is about to get a name change and upgrade and will soon become known as the Afterpay Arena.
The physical transformation of the venue, which has hosted concerts for international stars such as Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa, will include new external signage and interior refreshes.
The partnership is set to officially launch in the coming months with an initial five-year deal.
The venue in Olympic Park will continue to be known as Qudos Bank Arena in the meantime and will host its full calendar of events throughout the transition.
The arena has a capacity of about 21,000 with a seating capacity of roughly 18,000. It is the largest permanent indoor sports and entertainment venue in Australia.
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The venue hosted a Dua Lipa concert last year. Picture: Getty Images
It is the home venue for basketball team the Sydney Kings and has hosted everything from Hillsong conferences to talks by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As part of the rebrand, fully integrated Afterpay and Square touchpoints will feature throughout the venue, which was recently crowned by Billboard magazine as the fifth best live music venue in the world.
The venue will offer payment flexibility across the entire customer experience – from initial ticket purchase through to meal and merchandise transactions.
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The arena remains the main ground for the Sydney Kings. Picture: Sarah Reed/Getty Images
Afterpay CEO and co-founder Nick Molnar said his company saw a way to contribute to the experiences of customers using the venue.
Afterpay research had revealed 94 per cent of cost-affected event-goers had missed events due to upfront payment barriers.
Over half of consumers polled in their research had revealed they would be more likely to attend an event if flexible payment options were available.
“Live experiences are one of the more meaningful ways people choose to spend their time. We wanted to be the brand that makes sure nothing gets in the way of that,” Mr Molnar said.
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The arena has hosted Linkin Park, with late singer Chester Bennington pictured above.
The venue has been known as the Qudos Bank Arena since 2016. Picture: Damian Shaw
“What we’ve built here is genuinely end-to-end. The flexibility starts when you buy your ticket and carries through to fans’ meal and a piece of merch on the night.
“Square’s technology makes every transaction as fast as possible, because every second you’re standing in line for merch is a second you’re not in the moment you came for.”
The venue opened in 1999 ahead of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was originally known as Sydney SuperDome. The first event hosted was a Luciano Pavarotti concert.
The name was changed in 2006 to Acer Arena and has been known as the Qudos Bank Arena since 2016.
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