Australia’s national baseball federation, Baseball Australia, and the professional baseball arm, the Australian Baseball League (ABL), have announced a new three-year “landmark” partnership with Rawlings Sporting Goods that extends through 2017.
The partnership with Rawlings is the second in recent months among baseball and softball’s national federations, as Softball Canada and Rawlings Group Canada renewed a five-year sponsorship deal that will run through 2018.
Rawlings’ products will serve as the official competition baseball of the ABL and Baseball Australia, as well as the protective batting helmet and catchers kit supplier for both organisations.
“Rawlings has stood by our side since the inception of the ABL [in 2010]; the opportunity to align with a company with such a storied sports history such as Rawlings, is a great win for our league and demonstrates that global companies are taking notice of the growth of baseball in Australia,” said Peter Wermuth, Chief Executive Officer of the Sydney-based ABL.
While the agreement signals a major boost for Baseball Australia and the ABL, and international baseball in general, the deal also aims to solidify Rawlings’s position to build brand awareness across the continent, while firming its commitment of promoting the sustained growth of the game Down Under.
“Australia continues to be a robust growth market for Rawlings,” said Kurt Hunzeker, senior director of global brand marketing for the St. Louis, Missouri-based Rawlings.
Baseball Australia, which currently ranks 14th in the World Baseball Rankings, has already put the Rawlings baseballs to use, with Rawlings also becoming the title sponsor of Baseball Australia’s U14 and U16 national championships, which conclude on Saturday, as part of the agreement.
“Baseball Australia is proud to announce their new partnership with Rawlings,” said Brett Pickett, chief executive officer of Gold Coast, Queensland-based Baseball Australia. “To have the support of one of the premier sporting good providers for baseball is not only significant but continues to validate that we are on the right track for the evolution of the sport.”
