It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished in 1970 to make way for the Eastern Suburbs railway line.

It was one of Sydney's larger concert venues, licensed to accommodate over 13,000 people as a conventional theatre or 8,000 as a theatre-in-the-round.

On 20 December 2003, children's music group The Wiggles performed at the SEC as the closing act of their Lights, Camera, Action!

Elton John has played numerous concerts there over the years, including twelve dates in 1986 with an orchestra at Haymarket Arena.

The team remained until 2008 when they folded due to financial difficulties, but when the club returned to the NBL in 2010 they again made the SEC their home which lasted until the centre's closing in 2015.

[citation needed] In 1995, the Entertainment Centre hosted Game 4 of a 5-game international basketball series between the Australian Boomers and the Magic Johnson All-Stars in front of a sellout crowd of almost 12,000 fans.

Before the game Magic Johnson apologised to the fans from centre court for not being able to play and called the SEC "A good sized gym that they can be proud of".

As part of a redevelopment of the Darling Harbour precinct, the Sydney Entertainment Centre was planned to be demolished in 2013, along with the surrounding buildings, but was granted a reprieve.