A few months ago, you could read here about the upcoming ABL season being cut short. The intention was to play in two conferences, one in Australia (named the Australian Conference) and one in New Zealand (named the International Conference).
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But since the Brisbane Bandits and the Adelaide Giants had some concerns about coming to New Zealand and not making it financially, the ABL pulled the International Conference hub from Auckland and moved it back to Australia.
But with this move, it will be hard for the Tuatara to make ends meet as the team won’t draw any fans as the will play in Australia. Also no income from TV broadcasting rights as no games are played in New Zealand. Also International travel restrictions meant the pioneering Kiwi franchise faced a campaign based in Australia, and the logistics and difficulties that came with that are understood to be too great.
Since New Zealand is still requiring a two-week quarantine for anyone arriving on its shores, the season in the Auckland hub would become a logistical nightmare.
Even though the team did not make an announcement yet, sources within the ABL stated the Tuatara are about to hibernate and skip the 2020/2021 season because of the financial difficulties playing in Australia only will bring.
Dutch Baseball Hangout 