Tel Aviv Sport 2026: How to Get Involved in Football and Basketball This Summer

Maccabi Tel Aviv's basketball club sold out its 11,700-seat Menora Mivtachim Arena on HaYarkon Street for three consecutive home games in May, and Hapoel Tel Aviv FC is chasing promotion through the Israeli Premier League playoff rounds. The city's sport appetite is measurably bigger than it was two years ago — and the infrastructure to welcome new participants has finally caught up.

The timing matters. The 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, has put football front and centre globally, and Tel Aviv's amateur leagues are reporting a surge of interest. The Tel Aviv Municipality's Sport and Leisure Department logged more than 4,200 new registrations for organised sport programs between January and June 2026 — up roughly 30 percent on the same period last year. Club secretaries from Jaffa to Ramat Aviv say the phones have not stopped.

Football: Where to Play and What It Will Cost You

Bloomfield Stadium in Jaffa — the 29,400-capacity ground shared by Hapoel Tel Aviv and Beitar Tel Aviv Nordia — is the obvious landmark, but playing football in the city starts nowhere near there. The Municipal Sports Authority runs a beginner's five-a-side league at the Sportek park on the northern end of HaYarkon Park, just off Rokach Boulevard. Registration for the second half of the 2026 summer season opens July 12. A place in the adult recreational league costs 480 shekels for an eight-week block, equipment not included.

Hapoel Tel Aviv FC's community arm, Hapoel Sport for All, runs open training sessions every Tuesday and Thursday evening at the Kiryat Shalom Sports Complex in the southern city. No trial required. You show up, pay 35 shekels at the gate, and train with qualified UEFA-licensed coaches. The program started accepting adults up to age 45 in March and is already halfway to its cap of 200 participants per session.

For those serious about competitive Sunday-league football, the Tel Aviv Regional Football Association — headquartered on Menachem Begin Road — registers amateur clubs each July for the coming season. The deadline this year is July 20. An affiliated club registration runs around 2,800 shekels annually, which covers referee fees and pitch allocation across city-run grounds in Neve Tzedek, Ramat HaChayal and the Bavli neighbourhood.

Basketball: Maccabi's Grassroots Pipeline

Basketball may be the more straightforward entry point. Maccabi Tel Aviv's official youth and adult development academy, the Maccabi Academy, operates out of the Yad Eliyahu Sports Hall on Shivat HaKochavim Street — the old arena most Tel Avivians still call by its Soviet-era nickname. Summer clinics run through August 15, priced at 650 shekels for a two-week intensive. Adults join pickup leagues on Monday and Wednesday nights starting at 9 p.m., and a monthly pass costs 320 shekels.

Hapoel Tel Aviv Basketball Club runs a parallel program at the Gordon swimming and sports complex on the beachfront, targeting players who are entirely new to the sport. Saturday morning sessions are free for the first three visits — a deliberate policy the club introduced in January 2026 to widen its recruitment base beyond the traditional Hapoel supporter families in south Tel Aviv.

One practical note: the summer heat is genuinely brutal right now, as anyone who saw Fourth of July events cancelled across the American northeast this week already knows. Indoor venues fill up fast. Both the Menora Mivtachim Arena and the Yad Eliyahu hall are air-conditioned. Most outdoor pitches at HaYarkon Park are lit for evening play, and the municipality strongly advises booking through the Digi-Sport online portal before 8 a.m. on Sundays — popular slots disappear within hours.

Whether your interest is competitive or purely social, the entry points exist across every neighbourhood. Check the Tel Aviv Municipality Sport Department portal at sport.tel-aviv.gov.il, or walk into the Sportek reception desk on Rokach Boulevard any morning before noon. Registration staff speak English. Bring your teudat zehut or passport, a pair of trainers, and 35 shekels for your first session. The rest takes care of itself.