In conjunction with the Victorian Government, Baseball Australia are proud to announce that the Australian Baseball League’s first expansion team – branded as ‘Geelong-Korea’ will be based in Geelong for the upcoming ABL season.
Geelong-Korea will play alongside the Adelaide Bite, the Melbourne Aces and the Perth Heat in the ABL's Southwest Division during the 2018/19 season.
Baseball Australia CEO Cam Vale believes that the inclusion of Geelong-Korea is a significant moment for the sport in Australia.
“Not only does Geelong-Korea give Geelong a professional sporting team, it gives the city unparalleled exposure into the Asian market,” Vale said.
“Every single game Geelong-Korea play will be broadcast to millions of baseball viewers all over the world, enabling Geelong to have a truly global audience.”
“Geelong-Korea had a number of high quality offers from various regional centres, but ultimately the strength of the community, the superb grassroots link and the impressive baseball complex secured Geelong’s place as the ABL’s first ever expansion team.”
“To base a team in a grassroots focused area such as Geelong is an enormous opportunity for the elite side of the Australian game to work closely with the next generation of ABL stars.”
“Geelong is a passionate sporting town, and we are excited to bring the ABL’s first ever expansion team to Regional Victoria.”
Minister for Sport, John Eren believes hosting Geelong-Korea will have significant flow-on benefits to the sport, the league and Victoria as a whole.
“The addition of a Korean team in the national competition will boost the profile of the game in Victoria, bring extra excitement into the competition, and act as a pathway for our talented baseballers to join overseas clubs,” Mr. Eren said.
“We’re delivering for Geelong - we’ve already acquired World T20 cricket matches, the Australian Open of table tennis and we’re growing the Cadel Evans road race and the Vic Open golf tournament into international events.”
“This deal will showcase the Geelong region to an entirely new market boosting tourism and the local economy and creating jobs for regional Victorians.”
The Greater City of Geelong's acting Mayor, Mr. Peter Murrihy believes hosting an ABL team in Geelong is exciting for the community.
This is a huge coup for the Geelong region and a testament to our fantastic facilities and the liveability of our region,” Mr. Murrihy said.
“We’re very excited to welcome the Korean team to Geelong in November and look forward to showing them around. I’m sure this will be quite a buzz for baseball and sports fans in our community, and new converts to the sport!”
Geelong-Korea’s home ground will be the Geelong Baseball Centre, with the confirmation of team name and branding to take place in the next few months.