A legalized sports lottery began in May last year and sales reached nearly NT$8 billion (US$247 million) from January to July this year — with 60 percent of that accounted for by baseball.
Last year, Taiwan’s baseball league banned the dmedia T-Rex team over match-fixing allegations implicating the team’s management and three players, among others.
A scandal that erupted in 1996, the worst in the history of the sport in Taiwan, led to the disbanding of the China Times Eagles.
Despite the wave of bad news, observers believe the sport still has a future in Taiwan, citing the way it continues to attract genuine enthusiasm at the grassroots level.
“You see townships organize baseball games for the villages. Everyone loves it. It brings the communities together in a meaningful way,” Simon said.
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