Basketball
Riders Call Fans Meeting
23 August 2007
The DMU Leicester Riders, the most established club in the history of professional basketball in the UK, are urgently calling for the support of their fans and the local community in the face of imminent potential demise.
A fans' meeting has been called for Tuesday 28th August at 7pm in the Tigers Bar at the Leicester Tigers ground. The meeting will be chaired by Mark Ellis and representatives from the club and the British Basketball League will be in attendance. All supporters, potential partners, and interested parties are encouraged to attend.
The British Basketball League has taken a central role in efforts to save the club, providing advice and hands on assistance, but a more active contribution from interested parties in the local community is being sought in order to carry the club forward to a long and prosperous future within the BBL. The meeting will be a platform for such parties to signal their intentions and for potential solutions to be aired.
Unless the present situation at the Riders is improved upon, and an adequate route forward is found, by Friday 31st August, then the club will be forced to withdraw from the British Basketball League and Leicester will lose BBL basketball for the first time in twenty-one years.
Basketball in the UK is on an upward curve, with short-term survival likely to lead to a prosperous future for the East Midlands club as they look to establish community roots and secure investment in accordance with the growing position of the sport within the UK's sporting landscape. The BBL has recently grown to thirteen teams, with the majority of clubs now boasting hugely successful community programmes and recent large investments from corporate partners.
The club has also been a bastion for the city of Leicester, and an important part of the sporting landscape in a city that also includes highly successful professional teams in rugby, football, and cricket.
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