[3] It is located on Port Road in the suburb of Hindmarsh, just north-west of the Adelaide city centre.

To meet the demand for a new indoor venue that could hold upwards of 10,000 people, the AEC was announced in late 1989 and would be built at a cost of AU$44 million.

The Adelaide Entertainment Centre was officially opened on 20 July 1991[4] by John Bannon, the then Premier of South Australia.

Before the AEC was built it was generally believed by the people of Adelaide that it would also be the new home of the Adelaide 36ers who played in the National Basketball League as they played their home games at Apollo and a move there when it opened seemed natural as ticket demand for the 36ers was more than twice what the old stadium could hold.

This speculation was also fuelled by the success of other teams in the NBL, namely the Brisbane Bullets, Perth Wildcats, and Sydney Kings who had all moved into their respective cities larger Entertainment Centres and were attracting record crowds.

However, both the 36ers and their then owner the Basketball Association of South Australia wanted their own venue that would provide a home for basketball in SA, and thus the AU$16 million, 8,000 seat Clipsal Powerhouse (Renamed to Titanium Security Arena, and then to Adelaide Arena in 2019) was opened in 1992.

The South Australian Government assigned responsibility for the management of the AEC to the Grand Prix Board in 1989.

"[citation needed] The renovation included: major upgrades of the foyer, backstage area and corporate facilities; creation of additional car parking; new staging and curtains; renovation of administration areas; and restoration of the heritage-listed Revelations Chapel for use as a wedding and function venue.

[5] The Entertainment Centre was chosen over the Thunderbirds home venue of ETSA Park which only holds 3,200 and their former alternate venue, Titanium Security Arena, due to its ability to hold more spectators and because ticket demand was more than the Titanium's 8,000 capacity.

On 18 October 2023, Paul McCartney performed at the arena for the first show of the Australian leg of his Got Back Tour.

On 11 January 2024, the Adelaide 36ers set their all time home attendance record when 9,580 fans saw them take on reigning NBL champions, the Sydney Kings.

On 3 August 2024, the AEC's sports attendance record was set when 9,694 fans saw the Adelaide Thunderbirds win their 6th national title defeating the Melbourne Vixens 59-57 in the 2024 Suncorp Super Netball Grand Final.

[7] On 4th September 2024, Iron Maiden performed at the arena as a part of their The Future Past World Tour.

The footprint of the site is 28,900 square metres (2.89 ha) (approx 7 acres), and includes a large foyer area, a 2,680-square-metre (28,800 sq ft) event arena, seven function rooms, car parking, logistic facilities and administrative offices.