Ninja Stadium
Bellerive Oval (commercially known as Ninja Stadium and formerly Blundstone Arena) is the home of Tasmanian cricket and is nestled on the eastern shores of the Derwent River opposite Hobart's CBD. Opened in 1914, the venue didn't replace the TCA as Hobart's first class cricket headquarters until the 1987/88 season. Bellerive received a significant upgrade which was completed in early 2003 and included the construction of a new 6,000-seat Southern (David Boon) Grandstand, two TCA members buildings, indoor cricket nets and other improvements. A ground record of 16,719 witnessed the first game at the newly renovated ground for a one day international between Australia and England. New floodlights suitable for night international cricket were completed in late 2009. Work on the new Western Grandstand commenced in July 2013 and was completed in December 2014, boosting the venue's capacity to 19,500. It includes two tiers of seating, state-of-the-art public, corporate and media facilities.
The dimension to the oval are similar to those of the MCG, but has slightly shorter square boundaries. Curator Peter Apps tends to prepare pitches which yield quite a few runs but has slowly changed the character of the wicket square so that games are now featuring a more even struggle between bat and ball. Pitches at the ground often prove slow in pace early and then gradually flatten out. Due to the Oval's location, playing conditions are often affected by Hobart's afternoon sea breezes. As well as Cricket, Bellerive Oval also plays host to Australian Football with local matches and from 2012, North Melbourne play AFL premiership season games at the ground each season.
Bellerive Oval signed Blundstone as its first naming rights partner in October 2011, with the venue known as Blundstone Arena for the next 13 years. A new four year partnership (with an option of a fifth) with SharkNinja was struck in October 2024, with its official name becoming Ninja Stadium.
Ninja Stadium Details
Blundstone Arena
Australian Football
North Melbourne (AFL)
Tasmanian Tigers
2022 T20 World Cup