Anadolu Efes Istanbul

Anadolu Efes S.K. spent 35 years playing under a name it eventually had to give up. Founded in 1976 by the Anadolu Group through its brewery arm, Efes Pilsen, the Istanbul club took over the bankrupt second-division side Kadıköyspor and built its identity, and its name, around the beer brand. That ended in 2011, when Turkey's tobacco and alcohol regulator banned alcohol sponsorship in sport and forced a rename to Anadolu Efes, the group's parent name replacing the product that had funded the club for a generation. The nickname stuck regardless: players and supporters still call it Efes.

The club has moved grounds more than once. It played at the Abdi İpekçi Arena for over two decades in two separate spells, shifted to the larger Sinan Erdem Dome when the older arena needed work, and returned in September 2024 to a new venue built on the very site where Abdi İpekçi once stood, torn down in 2018. The Basketball Development Center now holds 10,000 for games.

Coach Ergin Ataman took Efes to the top of European basketball twice in a row, winning the EuroLeague in 2021 and again in 2022, with Vasilije Micić named the competition's MVP in the first of those campaigns. Domestically the club has been dominant for decades, with 16 Turkish Super League titles stretching back to 1979. Two numbers hang retired at home games: Petar Naumoski's 7 and Krunoslav Simon's 44.

Every meeting with Fenerbahçe Beko is billed as the Turkish Derby, two Istanbul clubs fighting for the same city's loyalty, with a second, quieter rivalry running against Galatasaray.