Marrara Stadium (known under naming rights as TIO Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Darwin suburb of Marrara. With a seating capacity of 12,215, it is the largest stadium in the Northern Territory and primarily hosts Australian rules football, cricket, soccer and rugby league.

The stadium was opened in 1991. It has a record attendance of 17,500, set in 2003 for an Australian rules football game featuring the Indigenous All-Stars. Marrara Oval has hosted at least one Australian Football League (AFL) game in every season since 2004 and at least one National Rugby League (NRL) game in every season since 2012. The ground has also hosted both Test, One Day International (ODI) and T20I cricket fixtures, most recently in 2026.

History

Australian rules football

Marrara Stadium was officially opened to the public on 30 June 1991 as the new home of the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL), and was conservatively estimated as costing $8million. The first game played under lights at Marrara was a match between Nightcliff and Southern Districts on 9 December 1994. Transport and Works Minister Daryl Manzie officially handed over the lights to the NTFL that day. Installing the lights cost $1.2million. The light towers were constructed by Darwin firm Norbuilt.

In February 1992, Marrara Stadium hosted its first match sanctioned by the Australian Football League (AFL), a preseason Foster's Cup fixture between and attended by 11,000 people. Further preseason fixtures were hosted at the ground over the next decade, including several Indigenous All-Stars games and a historic match between Essendon Bombers and West Coast Eagles in the AFL 2000 pre-season where Essendon went on to win the Ansett Cup. A 2003 match between the Indigenous All-Stars and Carlton attracted a crowd of 17,500 people, setting a new ground record. The first regular-season AFL match played at Marrara Stadium came in round 20 of the 2004 season, when the hosted .

Between 2004 and 2008 a single Western Bulldogs "home" game was played at the ground each season. In 2010, also began to play an annual "home" fixture in Darwin. The Western Bulldogs onsold their 2011 fixture to , but returned for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Port Adelaide also had a three-year deal with the Northern Territory government and Marrara Stadium, in which they would be the "away" team for games at the stadium each year between 2009 and 2012. Since 2014, only one AFL game has been played at the stadium each year. From 2020, will play two home games a year at the stadium, replacing Melbourne.

Marrara Stadium has been a secondary home ground of the Adelaide Crows women's team since 2017. In April 2016, the Adelaide Crows launched a successful bid to enter a team in the inaugural AFL Women's season. The bid was constructed in partnership with AFLNT, with the club to share resources and facilities between its Adelaide base and AFLNT's Darwin location. It included a commitment to host some home games in Darwin.

In 2020, Marrara Stadium hosted the annual Dreamtime at the 'G match between and as it was not possible for the match to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground due to the city of Melbourne, and ultimately the state of Victoria, being locked down during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

AFL records

Highest team score:

• 26.8 (164) – vs. , 16 May 2024

Largest winning margin:

• 93 points – vs. , 13 June 2009

Lowest team score:

• 4.3 (27) – vs. , 21 August 2020

Most goals kicked:

• 22 – Ben King ()

Most goals in a game:

5 on nine occasions

• Brendan Fevola, vs. , 18 June 2005

• Brad Johnson, vs. , 16 June 2007

• Brad Miller, vs. , 22 May 2010

• Paul Stewart, vs. , 21 July 2012

• Jack Darling, vs. , 4 July 2015

• Jack Lukosius, vs. , 27 May 2023

• Jack Lukosius, vs. , 3 June 2023

• Bailey Humphrey, vs. , 16 May 2024

• Jack Lukosius, vs. , 16 May 2024

Most disposals in a game:

• 42 – Noah Anderson, vs. , 16 May 2024

Cricket

Marrara Stadium has hosted top-level international cricket on several occasions. In July 2003, the ground hosted the first Test of a series between Australia and Bangladesh. A One Day International (ODI) game between the same teams was played the following month. In July 2004, a second Test was played, the first of a series between Australia and Sri Lanka. After that, top-level international cricket did not return to Marrara Oval until mid-2008, when the ground hosted a three-ODI series between Australia and Bangladesh. In 2025, the stadium hosted its first ever T20Is, between Australia and South Africa. In 2026, the stadium will host the two-match test series between Australia and Bangladesh after 18 years.

International centuries

Four Test, one ODI and one T20I centuries have been scored at the venue.

Tests

ODIs

T20Is

International five-wicket hauls

Seven Test five-wicket hauls have been taken at the venue.

Rugby league

In the National Rugby League (NRL), the Sydney Roosters played host against the North Queensland Cowboys in Round 7 of the 2012 NRL season in front of 10,008 fans. This was the first time Darwin hosted a professional Rugby League game since 1995. The second game at Marrara came in Round 17 of the 2013 NRL season when the Penrith Panthers (who had previously played games in Darwin during the 1990s) defeated the Gold Coast Titans 40–18 in front of 8,050 for what was a Titans home game.

In 2014, the Parramatta Eels, a Sydney-based National Rugby League (NRL) club, announced they would be playing four games at Marrara over the following four years. The first game came on 9 August (Round 22) during the 2014 NRL season when the Eels defeated the Canberra Raiders 18–10 in front of 9,527 fans.

In 2017 Marrara Stadium hosted a quarter-final of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup between Australia and Samoa, Australia winning 46–0. It drew a crowd of 13,473, which is the highest rugby league crowd the stadium has ever gotten and the fourth highest overall.

On 18 November 2024, it was announced that Parramatta's 12-year long partnership with the Northern Territory Government, which say the club play one home game a year in Darwin, would conclude in the 2025 NRL season, with Parramatta's last game a 12–50 defeat to the Canberra Raiders in round 6 in front of a crowd of 9556.

In May 2025, it was announced that the Dolphins would play one home game a year at the ground for the next 3 years.

Other events

The stadium has hosted AC/DC for their "Ballbreaker" tour in November 1996, when 13,000 fans and 170 tonnes of equipment packed the ground. Sir Elton John performed for the first time in the Northern Territory, at TIO Stadium on 17 May 2008 as part of his Australian Tour.

AFL records

Individual

Last updated: 16 June 2026

Attendance records

Top 10 sports attendance records

Last updated on 9 May 2026

See also

• List of Test cricket grounds

References

External links