Baseball Australia (BA) is pleased to announce that it has recently secured 100% ownership of the Australian Baseball League (ABL) – which will enter its seventh season in November 2016.
Baseball Australia (BA) is pleased to announce that it has recently secured 100% ownership of the Australian Baseball League (ABL) – which will enter its seventh season in November 2016.
The ABL is a national competition with teams in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane. Since its inception in 2010, the ABL has operated as a joint venture between Major League Baseball (MLB) and BA, founded upon a 20+ year relationship between BA and MLB in Australia.
The ABL has flourished as a result of the unique relationship between BA and MLB, one of the premier sporting organisations in the world. This relationship is a highly integrated international relationship that does not exist with any other sport in Australia.
The ABL has achieved some outstanding national results in its first 6 years, in a very competitive Australian sports market:
· Over 930,000 matchday tickets sold (with double digit annual growth)
· 19 Players have gone on to make their MLB debut
· Over 350 Australians have signed professional contracts
· More than 1.95 billion total TV, web, print and radio impressions
· Over $9.6M in sponsorship revenue
· 82.3% of the adult fanbase is 18-35 years old
· Grassroots growth has never been stronger with Australian Little League the fastest growing region in the world with 11,645 participants.
BA, with the support of its key stakeholders, is now in a position to build on that foundation and benefit from BA’s longstanding relationship with MLB.
A key component of BA assuming control of the ABL is the signing of a 3-year development agreement between MLB and BA, whereby MLB will continue its support of the growth of Australian Baseball through investment in a range of activities including youth academies, grassroots initiatives and promotional programs.
Over the past six seasons, the ABL has established itself as not only the cornerstone of BA’s High Performance program, but as its key asset in the marketing and development of the game in non-traditional baseball markets.
The ABL provides a clear pathway for the development of Australia’s best Baseball talent. With an announcement by the International Olympic Committee set for August 2016 regarding Baseball’s possible inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the ABL will continue to support the development of our emerging talent and provide great opportunities for supporters of Baseball, and those new to the game, to engage with the sport.
Plans are well advanced for the delivery of the 2016/17 ABL Season, which is set to commence in mid-November 2016. The CEO of BA, Brett Pickett, is hugely excited about recent developments.
“MLB has been an incredible partner for over 20 years,” said Pickett.
“On behalf of everyone involved in Australian Baseball, I thank MLB for all it has done for the game in our country. We could not have re-established the ABL without the support of MLB. Today represents a watershed moment whereby the Australian Baseball community can take control of its own League within an environment of continued support by MLB for the development of Baseball in Australia.”
“2016 is a big year for Australian Baseball in so many ways - with club-membership on the rise, an internationally recognised pathways program, a well-established National Youth Championships program, a national High Performance program which will see no less than 10 international tours in the coming 12-months, BA taking 100% ownership of the ABL, and the pending 2020 Olympics announcement – the future is looking bright.”
"BA’s decision to acquire 100% ownership of the ABL would not have been achieved without the support of our member State and Territory bodies who have been integrally involved throughout this entire process,” said Pickett.
Confirming the new ownership structure, the ABL also announced the 2016-2017 Draw, with Round 1 set to commence on Thursday 17 November 2016.
The 40 game season will consist of 10 rounds, five home and five away, with the much anticipated ABL All Star game presented by Boral coming after round five.
Following the launch of the 2016/17 ABL draw, the League will unveil in coming weeks the schedule for the Playoffs, new broadcast schedule and gameday ticketing information.
Download your club’s ABL draw straight to your digital calendar using eCal. This season the ABL has partnered with eCal, the world’s leading sporting calendar service, which will deliver all your important club information direct to your daily digital organiser including live-streaming links, ticketing information, club events and much more. Click here to download your club's fixture.
Click here for full ABL 2016/17 draw.
Download your club’s ABL draw straight to your digital calendar using eCal. This season the ABL has partnered with eCal, the world’s leading sporting calendar service, which will deliver all your important club information direct to your daily digital organiser including live-streaming links, ticketing information, club events and much more. Click here to download your club's fixture.