CPBL representatives on Tuesday met with officials of the Kaohsiung City Government to discuss the potential launch of the professional baseball league’s much-anticipated sixth team.
CPBL commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) told Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) that he hoped a team could be formed in Kaohsiung by the middle of next season, which is to start on March 31.
If the new team wants to participate in the league entry draft, which is held in the middle of each season, the city government would need to submit its application to join the league before the end of next month, Wu said.
Photo courtesy of the CPBL via CNA
“We encourage city officials to form partnerships with private companies, which would help them form the franchise,” he said. “A team representing the people of Kaohsiung would be the last piece of the puzzle needed to complete Taiwan’s professional baseball league. We hope that it will happen as soon as possible.”
Before a Kaohsiung-based team is formed, the league and the five existing CPBL teams have agreed to hold some league games at Kaohsiung’s Chengcing Lake Baseball Stadium next season, Wu said, adding that this would test the waters for a new team.
Chen said that the city plans to build a new line of the Kaohsiung MRT system that would serve the stadium, and pledged to support further development in the area in cooperation with corporate partners.
Most CPBL games are played at New Taipei’s Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium, the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium, the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium and the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium.
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