Auckland, Christchurch Submit ABL Bids
May 10th, 2018
Auckland, NZ
News out of the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand, today as Baseball New Zealand announced that they would be submitting two bids to join the Australian Baseball League. The bids are supported three MLB and one Dutch Ownership groups including the Padres, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks, as well as the Dutch Club Neptunus. The two sites are Auckland to represent the North Island, and Christchurch to represent the South Islands interest. Baseball New Zealand is also expected to see Wellington submit a bid of interest if and when a stadium site is finalized.
Baseball New Zealand would help fund stadiums if the bid was to go through, contingent on free to play academies, little league, and adult baseball. The Auckland site is near the North Shore and has a proposed capacity of 3,000 along with 4 practice fields that would be open for community use.
The Christchurch group would likely have a 2,000 stadium with 3 or 4 external fields throughout the city and region for practice and community use. The Christchurch group is expected to embrace a wider spread name in hopes of capturing the whole region.
An inside source with the Melbourne Aces says
"Auckland would be a great expansion market to open up the game to. We are expecting some form of foreign entrance into the league, whether is be our neighbors to the East, Korean, or even a Japanese team hosted here in a regional center. "
It is an exciting time to be looking at sport here. Below two of the proposed identities for the teams
Auckland would be looking to embrace a tradition theme for the City of Sails, and still follows a theme of a fierce group identity such as that of Canberra.
Christchurch would make use of its natural fierce animal that roams the region, the red backed spider.
Baseball Australia is expected to announce bids in regions of interest over the next few weeks.