Recap
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it shares some history of the original league with the Claxton Shield awarded to winners of both competitions, it is considered to be a separate competition.
Because the ABL's season takes place from November through February, the ABL is one of baseball's recognised winter leagues (although it is summer in Australia when the season takes place), where often minor league prospects in North America are assigned as an English-speaking alternative to the primary Spanish-speaking Latin America-based winter leagues.
The ABL was originally jointly owned by MLB (75%) and the ABF (25%) before the ABF became the sole owners prior to the 2016–17 season. Rather than following more traditional models of the franchises being owned privately by individuals or organisations, the league is the owner of each team. One of the rationales for this structure is to closely manage the financial situation, helping to ensure that all teams are equally viable. It is expected that this arrangement will continue for at least the first five seasons: the period of time covered by the financial commitment made by MLB and the ABF.
As a result of the central ownership of the teams, all players are paid by the league. This is to ensure that no team receives an unfair advantage over any other with regards to financial success. The payscale has set a number of tiers which group players of similar experience levels, with all players in the same tier receiving the same pay. The ABL has considered the possibility of having one or two marquee players paid above the standard scale, though no final decision has been made with regard to this. One concern about high rates of pay expressed by the ABF was that it was a contributing factor, if not the main factor, in the failure of the previous Australian Baseball League. ABF management has also expressed the concern that if this league were to fail, there may never be another opportunity for professional baseball in Australia.
The business model is heavily reliant on local team following as, for reason of distance, it is unlikely that away teams will attract significant fan followings other than Sydney-Canberra.
I sincerely appreciate the research work, and the information being shared. It is important and interesting history.