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Crows to sell Adelaide baseball team

The Adelaide Football Club is looking to sell its baseball franchise the Adelaide Giants, blowing the whistle on non-core activities as it tackles the pandemic’s financial hit.

Jul 16, 2021, updated Jul 16, 2021
Crows CEO Tim Silvers. Photo: Supplied / Adelaide Football Club

Crows CEO Tim Silvers. Photo: Supplied / Adelaide Football Club

The club says it is currently in talks with prospective buyers and has formally notified Baseball Australia of its intention to sell.

The Crows took full ownership of the baseball franchise in 2018 and rebranded it from the Adelaide Bite to the Giants.

Crows CEO Tim Silvers said the football club’s debt – which was more than $4.5 million at the end of 2020 – has forced the organisation to take a new direction.

“A great deal has changed since the Club acquired the baseball licence and like all professional sporting clubs, we have been heavily impacted by the global pandemic,” Silvers said.

“This has forced us to take on debt and significantly reduce our staffing levels and we are pushing ahead with an 18-month strategic recovery plan.”

He said the club still wants to the see the baseball club’s potential realised and it maintains “an important place in the South Australian sporting landscape”.

Crows chairman John Olsen, appointed in October 2020, indicated as early as November last year the club would be reviewing its non-football ventures.

These activities, pursued under former CEO Andrew Fagan, include ventures into eSports and lifestyle media.

Olsen in January said these ventures “need to be considered in the new environment in which we operate”.

Baseball Australia CEO Glenn Williams said on Thursday the Crows had made a “significant contribution” to the Giants’ growth on and off the field.

“We remain committed to working closely with the Crows to find a new licensee for the Giants who will continue to contribute to growth of the ABL and baseball in South Australia,” Williams said.

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