Australian Baseball League secures history-making broadcast agreement

The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is set to have a minimum of 40 games of the regular season as well as all playoff games broadcast on Eleven Sports live into Taiwan as part of a history-making broadcast agreement.

The new deal announced by Baseball Australia makes Eleven Sports the official broadcaster of the Australian Baseball League in Taiwan.

Baseball Australia chief executive officer, Cam Vale said the partnership with Eleven Sports has further strengthened the relationships between the ABL and Taiwan.

“This partnership will enable more international fans the opportunity to connect with the ABL,” Vale said.

“With last season’s unprecedented interest in the league from Taiwan, we expect this broadcast deal to further increase Australian baseball’s presence in Taiwan.”

Taiwanese megastars Chang Tai-shan, Jhang Jin-de and Lin Chih-sheng established themselves as fan favourites during last year’s Australian Baseball League season.

Vale believes last season’s success set the platform for wide-ranging partnerships between Australian and Taiwanese baseball.

“Our ties with Taiwan continue to grow through a number of various commercial initiatives including an Australian team in the CPBL, and we’re excited to enhance our relationship with Taiwan through this partnership with Eleven Sports.”

Eleven Sports will highlight the Taiwanese stars that will feature in this year’s edition of the Australian Baseball League, including former CPBL Rookie of the Year Hsu Chi-hung, Fubon Guardians outfielder Shen Hao-wei and Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions catcher Kuo Chun-wei.

More announcements are expected regarding Taiwanese players in coming days.