Australian Baseball League looks at privatisation amid financial struggles

As other Australian sporting codes and clubs fight for their futures, baseball is devising a bold plan in an effort to improve its bottom line and ensure the sport’s long-term strength.

Pressure on Australia’s elite sporting competitions has intensified amid Australian Baseball League clubs’ heavy financial losses and owners’ concerns over the future direction of the national competition.

It comes as netball and women’s basketball struggle in a rapidly shifting Australian sporting landscape.

Code Sports can reveal Baseball Australia, in December, sought expressions of interest from potential private investors and is now in an “information gathering” stage as it explores the best ownership model for the league.

Billion-dollar property developer Pelligra group, among several respondents, has emerged as a potential white knight for the league.

Daniel McGrath pitching for Melbourne Aces.

“We’ve always stuck our hand up for baseball,” SA director Steve Wren said – Pelligra, in 2021, purchased the Adelaide franchise from the Crows AFL club and recently went public with its support for a new ownership model for the WNBL.

“BA put an EOI out for somebody to take on the national league and we’ve responded with how we think we can best help it succeed.

“But we’re yet to hear anything concrete back and it’s been several months.

“The ABL, like the WNBL, needs to be treated as a business and you need people involved at the highest level with the commercial nous to operate it that way.

“There are fantastic people at BA who work tirelessly, but we’ve already lost one club and others are losing money. Private ownership would bring in the skills and infrastructure required to succeed in the tough environment sports face today.”

The ABL was reduced to seven teams in April, following the collapse of New Zealand franchise Auckland Tuatara. It’s understood one club, last season, lost around $500,000 and Code Sports has been told another may be on shaky ground.

One club source said it was “becoming harder to justify the losses clubs are incurring”.

Last season, three of the nine ABL finals games attracted fewer than 853 fans and only one crowd exceeded 2540 as the Adelaide Giants broke a 43-year championship drought.

It is clear many Australian sporting clubs of second tier sports are fighting for survival.

Super Netball will lose its Collingwood franchise at the end of the season, while a bitter battle between Basketball Australia and WNBL club owners over the future of their league is raging.

Basketball WA is attempting to sell Perth Lynx, amid last season’s losses amounting to upwards of half a million dollars.

The competition is considering private ownership to help secure its future.

BA chief executive Glenn Williams said the decision to call for potential private investment was prompted by heavy outside interest.

“We’ve always continued to look at ways to be able to grow the league and invest in the league,” Williams said.

“If there’s interested parties who are knocking on our door, it’s only fair to be able to say ‘if you do have interest in the league, then express it this way’.

“Like all other sports in the Australian market, we’re looking at how we can put together a sustainable and successful product on the field that delivers for the future growth of our sport.

“We’ve had people approach us with interest in the league and we’re reviewing the information as we go.”

The ABL has always struggled to gain a foothold in the Australian sporting landscape since its first incarnation (1989-2000) and the current format, which began in 2010-11.

Major League Baseball part-owned the new ABL in its formative years before its planned withdrawal ahead of the 2016 campaign.

The MLB/ABL relationship reached a crescendo in 2014 with Sydney Cricket Ground playing host to a season-opening double-header between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks.

The MLB exit led to the privatisation of ABL teams, while Baseball Australia took over ABL management and operations.

The ABL scheduled abridged seasons during Covid for its Australian franchises, however, the pandemic foiled international expansion teams Auckland Tuatara and Geelong-Korea.

Ahead of the 2023 MLB season, there was 29 ABL players and coaches on active MLB rosters most notably, Atlanta Braves’ three-time MLB All-Star Ronald Acuna Jr (Melbourne Aces), three-time Gold Glove Award winner Kevin Kiermaier (Canberra Cavalry) and Yusei Kikuchi (Melbourne Aces), who signed a three-year $36m contract with the Toronto Blue Jays last year.

Australia, in March reached the quarterfinal of the World Baseball Classic to set up a strong foundation toward the likely return of the sport at the 2028 LA Olympics

Originally published as Australian Baseball League looks at privatisation amid financial struggles