Stadium the key to Oz bid by baseball

It isn’t a case of if but when a minor league style baseball stadium will be constructed in Auckland, clearing the way for a New Zealand franchise to compete in the Australian Baseball League (ABL).

Baseball New Zealand was this week officially invited to apply for a franchise in the ABL with a stadium being the biggest stumbling block. But Regional Facilities Auckland’s director of stadium management Paul Nesbit has been working with the sport on finding a location and thinks a facility is a given in the near future.

“I would suggest it is certainly a code that is growing and the changing demographics of Auckland, in particular, lends itself to that growth,” Nesbit told the Herald on Sunday.

“It is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when we see a baseball franchise out of New Zealand playing in the ABL and that we see some of those Major League Baseball franchises coming down in their off-season and doing their training camps in Auckland should there be an appropriate facility.”

Nesbit and Baseball New Zealand have worked together for a number of years to try to find a suitable location around Auckland to build a minor-league scope stadium and it appears the best spot would be at or around QBE Stadium at Albany.

“With Baseball NZ, we have looked at various sites — out west obviously, down in South Auckland, around the Penrose area, certainly Western Springs in the early days in the overall investigation into the regional stadium plans,” Nesbit said.

“From a demographic perspective and a catchment location, I think it is fair to say Baseball NZ prefer to be based on the Shore. At various times, we have looked at opportunities maybe identifying a footprint in or around QBE or adjacent to that site.

“There is a lot of water to go under the bridge. The investigation is not just on existing stadium land but also adjacent pieces of land.”

Basically the plan is for RFA to find the land on which the stadium could be constructed and then it would be up to baseball to largely fund the building on it.

Baseball New Zealand chief executive Ryan Flynn thinks they have the support needed to get it built.

“We have commitments from the World Baseball Softball Confederation, from Major League Baseball and other parties domestic and international, who have confirmed their support financially to help us get this over the line,” he said.

Flynn is confident they can enter the league by 2019-20 but hasn’t ruled out entering next year.