Newcastle Eagles will start life in their new home by tipping off in front of a capacity crowd at Newcastle's first purpose-built basketball arena.
The city's basketball club, who dominated British basketball's top-level between 2005 and 2015, finally have a home of their own, with work on the Eagles Community Arena now complete.
The Eagles held a training session on their 3,000-seat court off Scotswood Road this week, ahead of the arena's first match on Friday.
The Eagles host Plymouth Raiders at 7.30pm on Friday. The club has confirmed the fixture is a sell-out.
Previously, the Eagles played at Metro Radio Arena, before moving to Northumbria University's Sport Central.
Owner Paul Blake says rival BBL clubs have caught up with the once all-conquering Eagles in recent seasons, while those who run their own arenas tend to outperform other clubs.
Blake hopes that through running their own arena, and taking advantage of additional revenue streams through its cafe, bar, training facilities and corporate areas, the Eagles will be well-placed to push on.
Moving into the Eagles Community Arena sees the Eagles achieve an ambition Blake has held for 10 years.
Blake told ChronicleLive : "It’s been a goal of mine for at least ten years, probably longer.
"In reality, you never expect it to happen because it’s a difficult thing to do.
"We can now really engage the corporate side of the business properly and it’s been the missing piece in a lot of respects. There should be a more settled training schedule with a gym on site, all the video opportunity you could ever want in-house. We’ve got huge great screens on courtside for using video whilst the guys are training.
“It should all really help us to keep pushing the envelope.”
Eagles sit third in the BBL, with Sheffield Sharks and London Lions ahead of them.
