By Australian Baseball League
SYDNEY – For the first time in the league’s five-year history, fans will be able to watch regular season Australian Baseball League games live on television. The final five Sundays of the 2015/16 ABL regular season, one game will be broadcast around the world on several different networks.
The first game was Sunday, 27 December at 5:00pm AEDT, when the Alcohol. Think Again Perth Heat hosted the Jet Couriers Melbourne Aces. The following week, fans will see the Aces host the Brisbane Bandits, proudly presented by WellDog. The spotlight returns to Perth in the next two rounds, as the Heat face off against the first-place Canberra Elite Cavalry in Round 12 and the SA Power Networks Adelaide Bite in Round 13. Sydney will host the final Game of the Week on Sunday, 24 January 2016, the last day of the ABL regular season.Fans should note the game time changes for these five Sunday games, which were made to accomodate the television broadcasts. Televised games will not be simultaneously streamed on ABLtv.com, however the game replays will be archived. The complete schedule is below.
2015/16 GAME OF THE WEEK BROADCAST INFORMATION
| Date | Game | Time (AEDT) | Networks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27-DEC-2015 | MEL @ PER | 5:00 PM | ESPN, Fox Sports Asia |
| 3-JAN-2016 | BRI @ MEL | 4:00 PM | ESPN, Fox Sports Asia |
| 10-JAN-2016 | CAN @ PER | 4:00 PM | ESPN, Fox Sports Asia, MLB Network |
| 17-JAN-2016 | ADE @ PER | 4:00 PM | ESPN, Fox Sports Asia, MLB Network |
| 24-JAN-2016 | MEL @ SYD | 4:00 PM | ESPN, Fox Sports Asia, MLB Network |
*Televised games will not be simultaneously streamed on ABLtv.com, however game archives will be available.
This is encouraging to see. On top of cultivating baseball in Australia, the ABL could do well promoting itself to the Northern hemisphere as a source of baseball during those long Winter months.