IMG Worlwide’s Turkish Joint Venture Dogus Group signs major deal with Beşiktaş Sports Club

Istanbul, Turkey / NationalTurk – IMG Doğuş, the joint venture between IMG Worldwide and giant Turkish company Doğuş has announced a major new partnership with Turkish sports club Beşiktaş JK.

The agreement is the first major project undertaken by IMG Doğuş, which was formed in May.

The realization of a major deal between a big American enterprize and Besiktas stirred confusion due to current financial state of Besiktas and the rising tensions between Turkey and Syria. Turkey is a country where foreign investments are rapidly shrinking because of the unstable condition in the region and financial analyses indicate that Turkey’s financial structure is worsening under the ruling Justice and Development Part AKP’s latest policies.

IMG Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Dolan, representing the IMG Doğuş Joint Venture and Mr. Fikret Orman, Chairman of Beşiktaş JK, signed the Letter of Intent (LoI) in Istanbul today.Beşiktaş Football Investments Co. Inc., the first football company which is publicly offered and owned by Beşiktaş JK, one of the most storied athletic clubs in Turkey and IMG Doğuş, the Turkish joint venture between IMG Worldwide, the global sports, fashion and media company and Doğuş, one of Turkey’s largest sector conglomerates signed the LoI.

Beşiktaş signed a contract on Oct. 5 with the IMG-Doğuş Holding consortium regarding its reconstruction plan of the club’s İnönü Stadium.

In one of the first projects being planned, IMG Doğuş, will assist Beşiktaş in revamping and modernizing to global standards its Youth Sports Academy and Close Season Training Camp in Turkey. IMG has extensive expertise in this area as the owner of one of the world’s leading academies in Florida, USA. Set on over 400 acres, IMG Academy features programs for American Football, European Football, tennis, golf, basketball and baseball among other sports.

In addition, the LoI calls for IMG Doğuş, utilizing IMG’s position as the world’s leading marketing organization, to manage the sale of all the commercial rights of the Club and the Club’s Stadium in Istanbul. This will include the development of a family of sponsors including naming rights, shirt sponsorship, technical sponsors and official suppliers.

Major deal is met with suspicion between IMG Worldwide and financially challenged Besiktas in crisis-ridden Turkey

IMG Doğuş will also assist Beşiktaş in developing a business plan for all aspects of the proposed Stadium redevelopment project. IMG is the market leader in the commercialization of new stadia and is currently working on a number of new stadia in Brazil and Russia for FIFA World Cup 2014 and 2018 respectively. The agreement includes the development of a business plan for the planned new Beşiktaş stadium.

Financially struggling Beşiktaş sees the renovation of its historic İnönü Stadium as a key to improving its economic position. The club’s Istanbul rivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe have profited from new and improved stadiums. Galatasaray left its old Ali Sami Yen Stadium to move to a modern Türk Telekom Arena last year, while Fenerbahçe expanded its Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in 2006.

“We are extremely pleased and excited about the new IMG Doğuş relationship with Beşiktaş JK,” said Michael Dolan on behalf of the IMG Doğuş Joint Venture. “The Club has enormous history in Turkey and has enjoyed tremendous success in its more than 100 years of existence. We believe that with the IMG Doğuş experience and knowledge of the Turkish market, that we can have a very significant positive impact on The Club. We are looking forward to a long and prosperous association,” Mr. Dolan concluded.

Speaking at the press meeting, Mr. Fikret Orman, Chairman of Beşiktaş JK said, “As the oldest sports club in Turkey, we are glad to pioneer the industry again to initiate a strong long- term cooperation with IMG Doğuş. We believe that IMG’s worldwide experience and know-how will lead us to develop new projects and bring a new vision to our understanding of sports and club management. We hope that this Lol will constitute a benchmark both for Turkey and the sector.”

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