Since the inauguration of the Lottery Arena in Jerusalem in 2014, the decisive games of the National Basketball Cup have been held alternately at the Yad Eliyahu Hall in Tel Aviv and the new Jerusalem Hall. -10 thousand viewers.
The above arrangement ended in 2020 and the previous season due to corona constraints and crowd restrictions, the semi-finals were moved to the Shlomo Group Hall in Tel Aviv, and the final game took place at the Toto Hall in Holon.
Today (Sunday) the Basketball Association announced that following the change in the trophy method (with the participation of the first 8 in the Premier League at the end of the first round), from now on the last four events of the State Cup will not take place in advance From 10,000 viewers.
In addition, it was announced that this year the Menora Mivtachim Hall committee was chosen by the committee to host the games.
This decision joins a series of decisions in recent years that have pushed basketball more and more towards the center of the country, and less to the periphery - the north, the south and Jerusalem.
The Basketball Association has established the Shlomo Group Hall in Tel Aviv as the exclusive home of the Israeli national teams of all ages.
The small and homely hall certainly did the job and became a kind of small and compact fortress that brought beautiful achievements and victories to the various teams, but when we see the football team chooses to diversify and host Teddy Stadium, Sami Ofer, Turner and Bloomfield - it is enviable.
Why should the basketball teams of all ages not be hosted in Be'er Sheva?
In Jerusalem?
In Haifa?
In fact, the senior basketball team has not hosted an official game outside of Tel Aviv for years.
Madar and Abdia.
The Drive In has become the home hall of the Israeli national team, Photo: Alan Shiber,
Since the Winner's Cup was founded 15 years ago, it has been a rare opportunity for residents of various cities in the country to enjoy an Israeli basketball celebration, usually around Sukkot.
For the first six years, the tournament took place in Malcha, and that's how I fell in love with the industry, too, as a teenager from the Jerusalem area.
After leaving the capital, the tournament was hosted in Haifa, Rishon LeZion, Nahariya and Holon, among others - but in the last two years it seems that the factory has found a new home, you guessed it, at the Shlomo Group Hall in Tel Aviv.
Why won't the Winner's Cup be played in the conch hall in Be'er Sheva?
In the new hall in Hadera?
In Eilat, Gan Ner, or Romema?
Why not bring basketball to other places that are not Tel Aviv and the center?
If you thought that the All-Star Game Carnival the league administration would choose to hold outside the center of the country - you are right.
That is, about.
Since the festive event returned to action in 2011, it has taken place in Gan Ner, Ashkelon, Haifa, BS, Holon and Eilat. A good word is coming. Existed at all due to the corona plague.
You can understand the economic considerations facing the administration and the union when it comes to choosing host halls for the various events.
Of course, the Menorah Hall full of star games will generate significantly larger revenues than a smaller hall on the periphery.
But if the good of Israeli basketball is in front of the eyes of decision-makers, they must also take into account the young boy from the south, who could become a basketball fan in the future, after watching a game from the stands in the WC, for example.
After Maccabi Haifa and Nahariya dropped to the second division, in the coming season half of the Premier League teams will play in the range between Ness Ziona and Herzliya (between them 34 kilometers of travel), and if the basketball association and the league administration aspire to increase the number of basketball fans in the country. The state and connect new audiences - they will have to get basketball out of Tel Aviv.
Arena Cup final, 2019. Jerusalemites also deserve basketball close to home, Photo: Alan Shiver,