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Plymouth Raiders is now in the hands of a Turkish billionaire
Raiders' new Turkish president has dream of making the club the best in Britain
Plymouth Raiders have a new owner which wants to invest in the club and take it to the pinnacle of British basketball – with a little help from a team in Turkey.
Current owner Richard Mollard and Ross Mackenzie have agreed to sell a majority shareholding of the club to MLA College, the expanding education provider which has recently moved into the newly refurbished The Merchant office block in Notte Street.
MLA, which sees being involved with Raiders as a way to support its work with students, is part of the worldwide education powerhouse BAU Global, whose Turkish president Enver Yücel is a huge basketball fan.
Online reports suggest the businessman is a billionaire, although his exact net worth is unknown.
Mr Yücel, who will now be Raiders’ new president, and BAU already own one of Turkey’s top Super League basketball teams, Bahcesehir College, which this season has reached the quarter finals of the Euro Cup, the second highest tournament on the continent, where they are due to face Latvian side Ventspils.
The new partnership with MLA College will provide the Raiders with significant additional resources and investment, the company said.
This will help it compete with the very best teams in the UK on the court, and also develop the business, forging close ties with Bahcesehir College, which could see the Raiders working hand-in-hand with the Turkish side to develop stars of the future.
John Chudley, rector of MLA College, said this could mean games between the two teams and even players and coaches from the Turkish side coming to help Raiders.
“We’d like to bring the Turkish team to Plymouth or vice versa,” he said. “And there is the possibility of player exchanges.”
He added: “We are looking forward to supporting and investing in the club to make it the best team in the country.”
Raiders currently lie in tenth place, out of 12, in the British Basketball League (BBL), but have won their two most recent games.
Mr Yücel, along with delegates from MLA College and BAU Global, will be at Raiders’ sold-out game against Leicester Riders on Sunday, February 16, and there will also be a smaller contingent to cheer on the team away at Worcester Wolves on Friday night, February 14.
Mr Yücel said, “We are delighted to be involved with Plymouth in general and with the Raiders in particular. Through this partnership we will help to encourage participation in sport for all ages and abilities, promote basketball as a great participation activity and also as a family friendly event to attend.
“We are particularly enthusiastic to encourage the linking of sport and education and of course we want to develop the Raiders into a BBL winning team.”
The day-to-day operation of the club will largely remain unchanged under the new regime, with Mr Mollard and Mr Mackenzie continuing on the board.
But they will be joined by the senior members of MLA College and BAU Global: Dr Basak Akdemir, Coskun Ince, and Paul James.
Mr Mollard said: “This is a truly historic moment in the history of the Plymouth Raiders club, and one that every fan should be incredibly excited by.
“Ross and I always knew that to grow this club to where we wanted it to be it would always require additional inward investment, and in our wildest dreams we could not have imagined a better partner to bring on board than BAU Global, or a more dedicated basketball fan than Mr Yücel.
“Like the Raiders, BAU Global are a family run business, who are passionate about education, madly passionate about basketball and totally committed to using both together in developing the youth of today into the achievers of tomorrow, and we’ve been humbled in their desire to come on board.”
