Monday, 13 November 2017:
The Australian Baseball League will grow from six to eight teams in 2018-19 ahead of anticipated increased interest in the sport as it returns to the Olympics in 2020.
Baseball Australia (BA) said it will encourage regional centres to apply to compete against established Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Brisbane teams.
BA chief executive Cam Vale said there was also room to expand into Asia.
With Australia's league played in the Asian off-season between November and February, he believes baseball is positioned to be the premier winter competition in Asia.
"Baseball is the number one sport in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, when it comes to attendance, participation and broadcast ratings," Vale said.
"These baseball rich countries are seeking out more baseball games to watch and further opportunities to develop their players.
"Expanding the league has always been a part of the plan. However with so much interest shown over these last six months, we have re-set the strategy to meet the continually increasing demand in the market for the expansion of the league."
Vale noted there had also been interest from New Zealand for an expansion team.
Baseball will feature at Tokyo 2020 for the first time since the Beijing Games in 2008, with Australia's men's team ranked seventh in the world.
The 2017-18 ABL season will begin on Thursday.
