Baseball Australia chief executive Cam Vale has revealed the Illawarra could have an ABL team of its own within the next year.
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Baseball Australia announced plans in early November to expand the ABL, with two new teams entering the competition next year and Vale identified Wollongong as a front runner.
The comments come as the ABL rolls into town for the second straight year, with the Sydney Blue Sox to face the Canberra Cavalry at Dalton Park on Sunday.
“We’re looking to expand the ABL and we’re looking particularly closely at regional locations as potential locations.” Vale said.
“I don’t think there’s a better candidate than Wollongong.”
“It stacks up from the size of the city, stacks up because of its ability to produce baseball talent, and being a very strong sporting city as well, it’s got to be one of the prime candidates.
“We’ve had a lot of interest, and we’re looking to have strong, competitive expressions of interest to work out where we expand next year. But, even if it’s not in the short term, the sport would be crazy not to have Wollongong on its radar for a national league.”
Vale took over the top job in April and has been quick to reveal his intent to grow the game. He concedes the difficulties of growing the sport in a cluttered sporting market, however he’s confident, with the right strategies, the sport can move into the mainstream.
“There are three key strategies we’re looking at. Firstly is to develop deep connections into Asia in countries such as Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, where baseball is the number one sport.
“Second is we’re trying to find innovative broadcast solutions to help us grow. It’s not easy to be on TV, so we’re looking at our other opportunities, and our viewing figures on YouTube have been fantastic to start the season.
“The third one is a key point of difference from other sports. I’m a believer that regional Australia and baseball are a very firm fit.
“Unlike other Australian leagues, we want to look at regional locations. Our cost bases are a lot lower, but the return is higher due to those Asian connections, so it is viable.”
It is this focus on regional areas that elevates Wollongong near the top of the list of potential candidates and Vale sees alignment with Asian teams as a way to ensure an expansion franchise’s long term viability.
“There are a couple of ways for it to work and it all comes down to our commercial stakeholders. It could be a new team originating from South Korea but playing here, or it could be an Australian arm of an existing professional Korean team.
“We don’t have a one size fits all model, our ability to be creative with team names and structures is enormous.”
Despite the flexibility on offer, Vale identifies establishing local connections as vital to ensuring the success of expansion teams.
“The key with local fans if its an overseas team is to create a real connection to that city, to impact on local communities through grassroots programs.”