It has a seating capacity of 22,500 for concerts. For the sport of basketball, it has a seating capacity of 16,000,[1] and for the sport of tennis, it has a seating capacity of 16,457 people,[3] making it Turkey's largest multi-purpose indoor venue, and the third largest in Europe (although it is not the third largest in Europe in capacity for basketball use). The arena is named after Sinan Erdem (1927–2003), who was the President of the Turkish Olympic Committee, from 1989, until his death in 2003.
Structure of the building
Sinan Erdem Dome has a steel roof structure, in a spherical shell form, with a dimensional span of 112 m × 154 m (367 ft × 505 ft). It also has two planar faces on each side, which forms an overall shuttle like geometry. The main load bearing supports of the arena's structure are 6 reinforced concrete twin columns, with an r/c support mass, which holds the tail section of the roof's form. The head section of the roof is fixed to the existing structure.
The steel trusses have fixed supports on top of twin columns. The top and bottom chords are made up of circular hollow sections, which form a triangular shape. There are three main trusses and secondary circular girders that rest on them, which builds up the skeleton structure, while trapezoidal steel sheet covers complete the roofing system. The steel roof and its supports are separate from the tribune structure, constituting an independent structure by itself.[4]
Sinan Erdem Dome hosted the basketball 2010 FIBA World Championship's knockout stage and final. During the 2010 FIBA World Championship, most of the arena's 16,000 seats were placed on temporary stands, which were built on top of the arena's permanent stands.
The Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL) club Efes İstanbul hosted its home Turkish League and EuroLeague games at the Sinan Erdem Dome, from 2010 to 2012. The Turkish club Fenerbahçe İstanbul also hosted its home games at the arena, from 2010 and until the inauguration of its own arena, the Ülker Sports Arena. The Turkish club Beşiktaş İstanbul also used the arena to host its home games, during the 2015–16 season. Since the 2017/18 season, Anaolu Efes as well as Galatasaray play their games at Sinan Erdem Dome, following the closure of Abdi İpekçi Arena.