Afterpay Arena — the Sydney venue formerly known as Qudos Bank Arena — officially opened on Thursday (July 23), marking the completion of a physical overhaul and the formal launch of the five-year naming rights partnership first announced in May.

The launch ceremony, held in the arena bowl, was attended by Afterpay co-founder Anthony Eisen, Afterpay VP APAC Mike Ryan, Legends Global COO for Asia Pacific and Middle East Peter Loxton, and Federal Shadow Assistant Minister for the Digital Economy Simon Kennedy.

It was the first time the fully transformed venue was presented under its new name, following months of interior redesign and technology integration.

The partnership, which runs through 2031, positions the venue as the first major entertainment destination in Australia to offer payment flexibility across the entire fan experience. Attendees can now split ticket purchases into four interest-free instalments via Afterpay Pay in 4, and use tap-to-pay for food, beverage and merchandise inside the venue, powered by 150 Square Registers and 65 Square Handheld devices — the first full Square commerce integration at a venue of this scale in Australia.

The physical transformation includes a foyer uplift, two redesigned hospitality spaces, venue-wide wayfinding, and what the companies describe as one of the world’s largest transparent holographic LED installations.

“Afterpay now has a permanent home in the place where fans come for the moments that matter most to them,” Eisen said. “We’ve built everything here around keeping fans in the moment — from the way they buy their ticket to the last song of the night.” Loxton framed the deal as more than a signage play. “This partnership isn’t just a name on a building,” he said. “That’s exactly the kind of engaged partner we want beside us for the next five years.”

The venue draws approximately 1.1 million attendees annually and was named to Billboard’s Top 5 Live Music Venues in 2025. Operated by Ticketek Entertainment Group and managed by Legends Global, the arena’s naming rights move reflects a broader push by buy-now-pay-later operators into live entertainment, as promoters and venues increasingly position payment flexibility as a lever for driving attendance and per-head spend.

Afterpay-commissioned research cited by the company found that 94% of cost-affected event-goers have missed live events due to upfront payment barriers, while 74% said they would spend more at venues offering payment choice.

Among the first acts scheduled to play the transformed venue are Tame Impala, J. Cole, Khalid, Laufey, Robyn, Olivia Dean, Zara Larsson and Hilary Duff.

Lou Koller, the founding frontman of New York hardcore institution Sick of It All, has died following a battle with esophageal cancer. He was 59.

The band confirmed his death in a statement posted to Instagram on Friday (July 24). “It’s with unbelievable sadness that we announce to our worldwide hardcore family the passing of our brother Lou Koller,” the group wrote, noting that 2026 would have marked the band’s 40th anniversary.

“We have lost a beloved friend and an iconic frontman. Lou had the power to raise everyone’s spirits at our shows with a smile and a sarcastic comment, and he won people over wherever we played, from every culture and every corner of the world.” The band also thanked those who had contributed to Koller’s medical fund, writing that his “battle is over now and he can finally rest.”

Koller first revealed his diagnosis in the summer of 2024, telling fans that doctors had found a tumor in his esophagus that extended into his stomach. Sick of It All cancelled a European tour so he could undergo treatment, and the hardcore community rallied with benefit concerts and donations.

By May 2025, he had announced he was cancer-free following a final round of chemotherapy, but the disease returned months later.

Sick of It All formed in Queens, New York in 1986, built around Koller and his brother Pete, the band’s guitarist. The group emerged from the same late-’80s New York hardcore scene as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Madball, playing clubs like CBGB and building a devoted following through relentless touring. Their 1989 debut Blood, Sweat and No Tears became a genre landmark, and by 2020 the band had sold at least half a million records worldwide across a career that stretched nearly four decades.

Their commercial high point came in the mid-’90s major-label era. Scratch the Surface (1994), released on East West, drew critical acclaim and produced the singles “Scratch the Surface” and “Step Down,” the latter earning MTV rotation; it remains the band’s best-selling album. Its follow-up Built to Last (1997), reached No. 32 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart. The band later signed to Fat Wreck Chords and continued releasing music into the 2010s, with their most recent album, Wake the Sleeping Dragon!, arriving in 2018.

Across their run, Sick of It All became one of the most respected and enduring acts in hardcore, admired as much for Koller’s charisma and generosity as for the music itself. He is survived by his bandmates, his brother Pete among them, and a global community of fans built across 40 years on the road.