The makeup of the Australian Baseball League for the 2018/19 season will be confirmed by the 31st of May, according to Baseball Australia CEO Cam Vale.
Following the announcements regarding the Sydney Blue Sox and Canberra Cavalry ownership, Vale has provided the following statement regarding the remainder of the process;
Interest in all six existing Australian Baseball League clubs has been excellent, and we are continually progressing discussions with the four remaining teams (Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide), whose licensing details for the 2018/19 season have yet to be confirmed.
By May 31, we intend to reveal the structure of the 2018/19 ABL season, which will be quickly followed by publication of the rules, broadcast information and the 2018/19 schedule.
As detailed in our original announcement, our intention for the 2018/19 ABL season is an eight team league. However this is not yet certain and a range of other possibilities will need to be considered if all teams aren't successfully licenced.
While the finalisation of the four remaining Australian teams is a key priority, we also have held high-level discussions with several international parties who have expressed serious interest in joining the ABL as expansion teams.
A team in New Zealand is a high priority as is an additional international team based in regional Australia.
We will announce more details on possible future expansion when we confirm the 2018/2019 teams.
This process has been exponentially positive for Australian baseball in showing the interest both in the sport from both here in Australia and overseas. Acknowledging that it can be frustrating for fans that it is taking a little longer than first planned, we believe that this is setting the ABL up for the next decade to be a significant and reputable Australian and International league.
