Venue: P.A.O.K. Sports Arena
Town: Pylaia, GR
Capacity: 8,500

P.A.O.K. Sports Arena (Greek: Κλειστό γήπεδο ΠΑΟΚ) is an indoor arena located in Pylaia, Thessaloniki, Greece, and it hosts the men's basketball, women's basketball, men's volleyball and women's volleyball departments of the multi-sports club PAOK. PAOK Sports Arena is the largest privately owned arena in Greece. It was opened in 2000, and in the same year, it hosted the EuroLeague and Greek Cup final-fours. It is built on land donated by Ioannis Dedeoglou, for which P.A.O.K. B.C. holds an annual tournament in his honor. It has 8,142 seats for fans and 502 parking spots. PAOK's volleyball department had to wait until 2002, to begin using the stadium. The arena also includes a training facility, club offices, shops, and a museum dedicated to PAOK basketball club. The arena was renovated in 2016. Most of people usually call the arena "Palatáki" (Greek: "Παλατάκι", which means "little palace"), due to its comforts and modern construction. The arena is located in southeast Thessaloniki, Greece, in the Pylaia borough, 7 km from the city centre, and around 1 km from Thessaloniki's International Airport. The arena lies 300 meters off the junction, on a small hill. OASTH's bus lines #2 (starts from KTEL) and #3 (starts from Thessaloniki railway station) provide public transport to the arena. In the longer term, the stadium will also serve the Thessaloniki Metro with the Anotera Scholi Polemou metro station, which is planned to be near the arena. P.A.O.K. B.C. had to wait 10 years from the laying of the arena's foundations (on March 18, 1990), and 12 years from the time Ioannis Dedeoglou donated the land (June 17, 1988), until the sports arena was complete. Ioannis and his brother, Thanasis Dedeoglou, first began to think about a new major European sports arena in Thessaloniki in 1991, by donating land to PAOK. A proposal to host the 2000 FIBA EuroLeague Final Four in the new arena, increased the motivation to complete the stadium. FIBA Europe accepted the offer, and the con