Volleyball in Turkey: The Sultans of the Net and Where to Watch

In Turkey, the loudest crowds are not always at football matches. On winter evenings, halls across Istanbul fill for women’s volleyball, and the national team, nicknamed the “Sultans of the Net”, has become one of the best in the world. If you love sport, volleyball in Turkey is one of the most exciting things to watch, and one of the easiest to fit into a trip.

The Sultans of the Net: Women’s Volleyball in Turkey

Turkey’s women’s national team has carried the nickname Filenin Sultanları, the Sultans of the Net, since the 2003 European Championship in Ankara, where it won silver. Then the titles came. First, in 2023, the team won both the FIVB Volleyball Nations League and its first European Championship. At the 2024 Olympics in Paris it reached the semi-finals for the first time, and in 2025 it won silver at the World Championship. Then, in 2026, it won the Nations League again and kept its European title.

The Sultanlar Ligi

At home, the best players meet in the Sultanlar Ligi, the Sultans League, which began in the 1984–85 season. So today fourteen clubs play in it, and many call it the best women’s volleyball league in the world. For example, Eczacıbaşı has won sixteen titles, more than any other club. VakıfBank, at the same time, has won the Club World Championship a record four times and the European Champions League seven times.

Where to watch volleyball in Turkey: Istanbul

Also, many of the top clubs play in Istanbul, including VakıfBank, Eczacıbaşı, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş. So during the season, roughly from autumn to spring, there is often a match somewhere in the city on a weekend. However, the halls are smaller than football stadiums, so you sit close to the court and the noise.

Which other sports nights can you see in Istanbul?

Volleyball is one of several great sports nights in Istanbul. In basketball, two of the city’s clubs, Fenerbahçe and Anadolu Efes, have won the EuroLeague, and their arenas are as loud as any football stadium; read basketball in Turkey. Then, for football, three great clubs share the city, and on match day whole districts fill with fans and drummers. Our Istanbul football match tour takes you into the atmosphere with a licensed guide.

Watch Volleyball in Turkey With Us

Would you like to see a Sultanlar Ligi match, or even a national team game? Send us your dates, and we will check the Sultanlar Ligi fixtures, book the tickets and arrange your ride to the hall. Our concierge service handles it, just as it does for a football match, tennis or golf. For more sport, see our guide to basketball in Turkey, and read about Zeynep Sönmez and Arda Güler. The Turkish Volleyball Federation publishes the fixtures.