“Tennis Australia basically bought the naming rights for it so we had the opportunity for this to be named Melbourne Arena,” Tiley said. “It’s iconic with the city, celebrated the city and our preference was to have the city name on there as opposed to the commercial name. “I’m sure they had a lot of offers and Hisense were a partner of ours for a while and they have been a great partner of the government's but we wanted it to be Melbourne so we made a contribution to it.” With the Australian Open locked into Melbourne Park until 2036, Tiley hopes the Melbourne Arena name lasts just as long. “The exact term is still being worked through but our agenda is to keep it for as long as [possible],” Tiley said.

“We have a contract to keep it [the Open] here until 2036 but whether it [the new name] stays that long is still able to be determined by the government.” Victorian sports minister John Eren said he expected the new name to be around for the foreseeable future but didn’t rule out eventually going back to a corporate naming rights sponsor if TA didn’t want to continue to hold the rights. The old name is still on the stadium but it is expected to come down in the coming months. Melbourne United chief executive Vince Crivelli joked the stadium would be named after the NBL champions and also welcomed the new name. “It’s a wonderful initiative and it’s great having a clean skin venue recognising the city,” Crivelli said.

“It plays hosts to so many great sporting events and there is such a rich history here.” The NBL and Australian Open are also close to locking down a Melbourne United home game at the venue during the Open next year. Melbourne United played Cairns Taipans during this year’s tournament and both parties are keen for it to continue. “We are planning on it,” Tiley said. “We are dealing with them on the days and the times but we would love to do the same thing.