We remind you that BHC also owns the Vilnius Wolves and Dubai Sandstorm Shooters clubs.
It is announced that the group managed by G. Žiemelis has purchased part of the shares of the “Seagulls” club and should gradually become the main owner of the team.
The official statement says that the Finnish runners-up are looking to qualify for the European tournament, and BHC’s involvement should speed that up.
Mindaugas Rainys, the former television personality responsible for sports investments, emphasized that the arena issue needs to be resolved at the present time, since the current Kisahalli space does not meet the standards of European tournaments.
One of the options available to the Seagulls is to play at the Helsinki Arena, which has not been used since 2022 because the arena’s owners are Russian, who have been sanctioned by the European Union.
Rimantas Kaukėnas, the president of AB Basketball Holding Company, had no doubts that Finnish basketball, which is gaining color, is worth investing in.
“We are happy that the basket of clubs managed by the Basketball Holding Company has expanded to include the Seagulls, one of the most successful Finnish basketball clubs of recent times. Basketball in this country is currently experiencing a huge upswing, the interest of the public is growing rapidly. This was evident last summer, when the national teams of Lithuania and Finland fought in a packed arena in Tampere. We see this growth, we see public sector efforts to popularize basketball among children and youth. Having evaluated this, we also see the possibilities of a successful business in Finland,” said one of the company’s managers.
For his part, Janne Kulvik, one of the club’s current owners, hoped the deal would help the club move forward.
“This new partnership is extremely important for the future of the Seagulls club. I am sure that the expertise, experience and resources of the Basketball Holding Company in the field of sports will open up new opportunities for both the club and its fans. Our growth is currently hindered by a small arena, the club competes in the Toolo gym, which can accommodate only 1,600 spectators, which is not suitable for European tournaments,” said J. Kulvikas.
R. Kaukėnas also agreed with the fact that an unsuitable arena for the club is one of the biggest problems hindering its development. This is expected to be resolved with the help of Helsinki City Council leaders, he said.
“Helsinki has a 15,000-capacity arena that is currently unused. But city council chiefs have already begun procedures to reclaim the arena for public use from its current owners. We hope that this situation will be resolved in the near future and this will allow the Seagulls to finally make their debut in European tournaments. This would be a very important step for this rapidly growing basketball organization,” said the president of Basketball Holding Company.
Having become a co-owner of the Helsinki Seagulls basketball club, AB Basketball Holding Company continued its activities aimed at selling basketball management and development products in European or Middle Eastern cities with high purchasing power that do not have teams competing in European tournaments.
The value of the agreement has not yet been disclosed. It is added that Henrikas Dettman, the former head coach of the Finnish national team and the current director of the country’s coaches, became the link of the agreement.
We remind you that recently “Tesonet” and “Žalgiris” Kaunas bought the London “Lions” club, which will compete only in the British championships in the coming season.
2024-08-16 02:09:22