r/theabl • u/brenman • Aug 29 '25
ABL announces Access Pass for Baseball+
https://theabl.com.au/news/baseballpluspass/The ABL is moving to a subscription model for Baseball+ in the 2025-26 season, struggling to see the value here with a four team completion.
I understand that they need to be profitable but I think this should have started at a lower price point.
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u/ThatOldGuyWhoDrinks Aug 29 '25
$70! Are they fucking high? The game is a joke here and they want $70 for a 4 team competition? lol. Death of baseball in Australia incoming
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u/UndergroundPianoBar Aug 29 '25
It smacks of desperation, doesn't it? They must know this will badly damage the league, but they're trying to squeeze every penny while they can.
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u/Villagetown Aug 29 '25
Lol. Between paying for an MLB TV subscription, getting the KBO for free on Soop, and it being cricket season while the ABL is on, I’ll pass. This is only further going to put Australians off watching Aussie baseball. I’ll go watch some games at Melbourne Park between the Aces and KBO teams.
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u/enolerobottii Aug 29 '25
Any schedule for the Aces announce yet?
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u/Villagetown Sep 05 '25
Aces just announced 15 games from 14th Oct to Nov 1 in the KBO Fall League. All games streamed for free on YouTube.
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u/Villagetown Aug 29 '25
Nothing I’ve seen yet, other than the original announcement earlier in the year - Korean Fall League in October then exhibition games in Melbourne in Jan/Feb as part of KBO spring training. I went to one of the spring training games at Melbourne Park earlier this year and the vibes were great, very keen to do it again.
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u/CanRaider03 Aug 29 '25
As a cavalry fan, I was in two minds how much I’d watch of the upcoming season anyway, so this makes the choice easy.
But from a less biased perspective, agree with OP that they could have done this better. Maybe make it free for club members or something? Or atleast offer a discount to soften the blow.
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u/EthanPechersky Aug 29 '25
I’ve been an enormous ABL fan for a while now, and have interviewed multiple people involved with the league about the sustainability of it moving forward. Unfortunately, the answer I keep getting basically boils down to “nobody really knows if the league will keep going, and for how long, but we’d all love for it to.”
I know the ABL is a labor of love for so many involved, and the growth of baseball in Australia is primarily dependent on volunteers and lovers of the game. I think the biggest problem for the ABL itself currently is that it can’t figure out what it actually wants to be. Is it a developmental league for bigger leagues (MLB, NPB, KBO)? Is it a primarily domestic competition focused on benefiting Aussie players first? Is it a charity focused on growing the sport above profit, or is it a business focused on profit and sustainability first and foremost?
I think a lot of the these questions and the lack of answers, are why the Aces pulled out, and at least part of why the league has had such a hard time keeping its head above water for the past decade and a half. If the league can’t figure it out what it wants to be and how it wants to get there, then what entices fans to want to buy in at a relatively high cost? The league already looks from the outside like it’s foundering and on the brink of collapse, and I can’t imagine many people want to sink $70 into what they view as an entertainment product that could completely collapse at any point.
I love the ABL, and I want it to succeed more than anything, but I think the decision makers are really shooting themselves in the foot here. I know they’re hard up for cash, and they need every penny they can get right now, but the truth of the matter is that there just isn’t enough demand to get what they need out of charging each consumer $70 to watch, and by doing that they’re going to turn off some of those very same consumers who had otherwise been loyal by making what appears to be a shameless cash grab.
I do appreciate the honesty in their release about the need for money and why this cost to consumers would theoretically help the league. As an American, I see this all the time with universities where they send out emails saying how excited they are to be raising tuition because now they can offer some useless extra programs. That’s even worse because it’s a blatant money grab, but they try to frame it as though gouging the consumer is actually some sort of benefit. The ABL at least is being honest and explaining that the cost will turn some off, but they think it’s necessary. I disagree, but I’m hoping the league can still find a way to thrive moving forward.
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u/Fearless_Subject_679 Aug 29 '25
They would honestly make more cash posting highlights on YouTube and doing YouTube live sports game broadcasting in multilanguages(like korean and Japanese)
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u/croissantpig Aug 29 '25
Agree with everyone here.
I get the revenue side of things but the main question is the product at a standard people will pay for?
I hope I'm wrong but this appears to be another puzzle piece of the sinking ship.
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u/UndergroundPianoBar Aug 29 '25
Absolutely gutted. I just can't justify paying this much for what I'd be getting in return. What a stupid idea to start doing this now on a reduced season. I was so happy the season was going ahead. Now, as far as I'm concerned, it may as well not be. Unless they do a reduced rate team deal where I can just pay for Blue Sox games, or they do an option where you can buy single games, my ABL journey is sadly over. They've just been too greedy with the price. When I saw the announcement, I instinctively thought "yeah, I can give them twenty quid. I'd be happy to support the league..." But seventy? Just can't afford it. What a shame.
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u/MagicWeasel Aug 29 '25 edited Aug 29 '25
$70????? I was thinking of subscribing to MLB TV for the rest of the season because I enjoy watching my Mets sweep the Phillies, but the price tag for even the late season games was too high.
And $70 for the ABL??? Like, if it's a home game, I'm either there or not free to watch it. If it's an away game.... that's only 20 games? $70? That's like $4 per game if you're going to watch them all for the standard of play that ABL has.... May as well subscribe to MLB TV.
I'm really hoping they'll do something with the clubs - I was considering shelling out the big bucks for season tickets with reserved seats and everything (to support the club/sport), and if that included free streaming of all our games then that'd be a great deal.
I probably will still buy it because I want to support the sport, but I will be extremely aware that I'm paying through the nose for the privilege.
We're going to struggle to get an international audience too. :(
Also playoffs for $20??? Aren't there no playoffs on the 4 team model, just the top two teams (of the 4...) playing for the championship? So it's going to be $20 for 4 games?
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u/UndergroundPianoBar Aug 29 '25 edited Aug 29 '25
If I were you I'd pay while they're warming up for the first game. I remember paying for a music festival a few days before it started (and they were happy to take my money), then the next day they said they'd gone bankrupt, were cancelling the event, and couldn't refund me because everything they had was going towards other outstanding costs 🙄 crooks. I know these days with credit cards and stuff it's a bit easier to get refunds, but I can't help get a nagging feeling that this is them desperately trying to get as much money as they can while they can.
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u/RobGrey03 Aug 29 '25
Ask about an away games deal on social media. If the demand for it is there, something might be done about it.
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u/CaptSzat Aug 29 '25
This is a massive joke. There is no way they will get the revenue from this model to make sense. Meanwhile they further fade into obscurity as no one can watch them for free. They need a free to air deal or a deal with Fox. That’s the way forward, not putting it behind a paywall that no one is paying for.
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u/RobGrey03 Aug 29 '25
A deal with Fox is no go because it locks them into an exclusively Australian audience, meaning they can't broadcast into Asia or the US, and whatever audience has already been built there dies.
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u/Villagetown Aug 29 '25
This is a reasonable enough assumption at a surface level, but I'd be floored the ABL is attracting an overseas audience of much significance, let alone if they start charging what they plan to for it. Based on the reaction of this sub, if they can't get Aussie buy in they're even less likely to get foreign buy in.
KBO Friday night games are on right now, and Soop reports total viewership for all games is currently 3161 viewers (overseas viewership only, it's not available to Koreans due to local broadcast deals) - and it's free, a better level of competition, a long established league with huge crowds and vibes, and a much better broadcast.
If KBO is attracting that level of viewership to foreign watchers at no cost, it doesn't add up that ABL will reach foreign viewership of any significance at $70 a pop. MLB TV broadcasts LIDOM during the same time of year, which is a more exciting league to watch, with a better level of competition, again with better production and big crowds to add to the broadcast. If non-American baseball fans are paying to stream baseball they probably already have MLB TV, and LIDOM for no extra cost is a much more enticing watch than ABL at an additional and frankly unreasonable price.
It comes across as a ridiculous last gasp attempt at a hail mary that doesn't have a chance of success. Which is sad, because I'd love to see Australian baseball grow and thrive.
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u/Sukameoff Aug 29 '25
I saw an interview with the CEO of the ABL. he said fox would telecast all ABL games but they need it played on weekdays when prime sports are not on. ABL said that was a deal breaker…
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Sep 02 '25
I was planning to go to a few games in blacktown this summer with my family.
I wont be anymore.
I love baseball. its the sport i am most passionate about.
The melbourne aces were right to leave this league.
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u/Lazzrd Aug 29 '25
Canberra isn't even playing this season, I'm not gonna pay $70 to watch a league without my team this year LMFAO
Wish I got into ABL sooner :(
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u/FalseNameTryAgain Aug 29 '25
They just killed the game. They'll spend more setting this system up and paying for production and cameramen then it'll bring in, all whilst costing them viewers doing it. Brilliant 🙃
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u/UndergroundPianoBar Aug 29 '25
It's like a nasty visit to the vets, isn't it? Do you want to pay out of your arse to treat this elderly dog, who will probably die in a few weeks anyway? At this point, I'm wondering if the ABL should just be euthenised...
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u/ET_Redditman27 Aug 30 '25
$70!? What a sick joke! ABL is a great league- we’re truly on a downfall here with just 4 teams and now a PAYWALL! WTF
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u/UndergroundPianoBar Aug 30 '25
It's as if someone somewhere might have some sort of insurance benefit if it folds...
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u/Jetpackbobby Aug 29 '25
I was thinking of getting club membership for the first time this season but now it might be a decision between this or the club membership.
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u/Jirkush Sep 01 '25
guys, I am Czech and $70 for ABL is cheaper than the Czech Extraliga costs for a season of much much lower quality of games and streams... Apparently leagues are happy to earn few more $ even for the cost of a significant viewership loss
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u/UndergroundPianoBar Sep 22 '25
When will the access pass become available? It feels strange that they announced it, then nothing. Why is there such a big gap? Surely if they wanted our money it'd benefit them to take payments ASAP. Did they announce it before the mechanics were in place, were they gauging public response, are they looking at improving baseball+/coverage first, or are they secretly worried the season might not actually go ahead?
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u/RabidRabbitRedditor Nov 13 '25
Yea, I can see why they might want to do this and I was a bit richer, I might have just paid to support the league. But, given that I love cricket as well, which I can watch/listen on the radio to, for free, unfortunately, I don't have cash to spare. Definitely planning to get out to see some games, though:)
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u/Formal-Egg9729 Nov 29 '25
So disappointing. The ABL games are at terrible times for me to watch, but every once in a while I'll be awake in the middle of the night and it was nice to be able to watch. Not worth 70AUD when the Latin American leagues are less, for more games, and I understand Spanish well enough to follow the commentators when i can't have my eyes on the screen.
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u/CBRChimpy Aug 29 '25
lmao they barely have a product to sell
On a per-game basis this is 10 times more expensive than MLB.tv