As usual, "improving" is developer code for "reducing".

This has been on the cards for a while. There's been a call for expanded exhibition/convention facilities in Sydney for a while and the Ent Cent was in the firing line, especially since they went broke. The 6000 capacity venue could still be used by the Kings. The Bullets played in the Brisbane Convention Centre.

Some concerts will be lost to the city centre.

It's a shame to lose this building...

its a pig of a building...about time it was scheduled for demolition....sydney needs bigger exhibition opportunity in the city

Its about time - Sydney's convention/exhibition facilities are well overdue for an upgrade. After being involved in events at both Sydney and Melbourne, that point is obvious. It will be interesting to see what sort of building they replace the Sydney Entertainment Centre with though. Will it be something similar to the new (well, one year old) Melbourne Convention Centre? While it has a fixed seating capacity of 5,500 it obviously isn't suitable for Basketball or big concerts.

I still reckon it could be suited to basketball if the flat floor is big enough. Perth Ent Cent was a similar shape and it managed to host the Wildcats.

Brisbane has a big enough floorspace to host the Bullets.




The Bayside Auditorium of the Sydney Convention Centre, weightlifting venue for the Olympics, is below. This is the main Convention venue in Sydney at the northern end of the Exhibition Halls, right on the water at Darling Harbour. The SydEntCent is at the southern end. I've been here and from memory there was not enough flat floor space at the front for a basketball court, but the photos at the link below show it hosting Dancesport! Still, at a 3500 capacity it is too small for NBL basketball.

http://www.scec.com.au/rooms/fact_sheet ... jectID=149

The Kings would do well to keep playing in the city. Their crowds don't justify the need to go somewhere holding more than 6000 unless they make finals. If they are going to be the only team in town, I do like Acer Arena for bigger games.

No doubt concerts will move. 6000 isn't much more than 4500 at the Hordern Pavilion. If Acer Arena is the only indoor venue that holds five-figure crowds, a lot of bigger acts will go there because they can play fewer shows to make a profit.

Sydney really needs a venue around the 10-12,000. That way you've got the Metro at about 1,000, Enmore at 2,000, Hordern at around 5,000, SEC (or a replacement) at 10-12,000 and Acer at 20,000.

If there was no SEC, could Acer cope with the extra events? Ticket prices would also rise with the lack of competition I would have thought.

I think Acer could cope but they wouldn't be the only ones picking up the crumbs. The Hordern and this new venue would grab some shows as well. There have been past events at the SydEntCent that didn't get near to selling out so they didn't necessarily have to be there. I saw Live in a half full SydEntCent, for example.

I don't know that ticket prices would rise. It all depends on what the venues charge for hire and what the promoter negotiates with the artist etc. The replacement venue means competition won't be diluted too much and with the penchant for stadium concerts, it would be a naive venue to get too big for their boots when it comes to charging for big acts.

Seriously, you could at least try to flog us furniture.

Found this video with plans of the exterior and interior of the new Sydney convention entertainment centre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5MQ_7rZfiQ

Looks similar inside to the current ent cent but the court is placed the other way round.
It states a capacity of 9,000 for sporting events ,think you could fit more seats though if they really had to.

Wow. That's more capacity than reported before. We may not see the drain of concerts to Acer. Similarly, it's a good size for the Kings if they get themselves off the bottom off the ladder.

Set up reminds me of Derwent Ent Cent or the Perth Ent Cent.

The roof looks like a giant snake.

Whenever I see the word 'multi-function' I get worried. It usually results in something that tries to make everyone happy, but doesn't succeed with anything particularly well.

You can see that with the indoor venues in Christchurch and Vector Arena in Auckland. Miles away from the action for the sport.