Yad Eliyahu Stadium
The Yad Eliyahu Stadium, most often referred to by locals as the Nokia Arena, is located in Tel Aviv’s southernmost neighborhood of Yad Eliyahu. The indoor stadium has close to 12,000 seats and is used most often for home games of the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team. Yad Eliyahu Stadium has been their home stadium since 1972. The Maccabi Tel Aviv team won its league championship in 2008-2009 and 2010-2011. It has also won many European Championships in the past decade. As Israel’s largest indoor stadium, the Yad Eliyahu Stadium hosts Israel’s annual Final Four game, as well as many of the national basketball team’s games which are held in Israel. In the past, the Yad Eliyahu Stadium also served as the home for the Hapoel Tel Aviv basketball team.
The Yad Eliyahu Stadium is also used for many other large public events, including concerts, conventions and large international competitions. The annual FIRST Robotics Competition is held at the Yad Eliyahu Stadium. The Mama Mia! International Tour performed in the indoor stadium, as did Rod Stewart, Enrique Iglesias, Israeli singer Kobi Peretz and Canadian pop icon Paul Anka.
The Yad Eliyahu Stadium is owned by the Heichali Company, part of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality. The Heichali Company also runs the Bloomfield Stadium in Ramat Gan, home to the Hapoel Tel Aviv, the Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv soccer teams.
The Yad Eliyahu Stadium is located on 51 Yigal Alon Street. A large open air parking lot is adjacent to the Yad Eliyahu Stadium.