By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
Hawaii Baseball LLC — the umbrella Hawaii Stars and Na Koa Ikaika Maui owner Bob Young’s two teams fall under — recently signed a deal to launch a broadband social network, which would allow fans to connect to their favorite teams and access content not available on television.
The agreement with Players Network, a TV and digital media network, allows HBL and its affiliates on the West coast, Hawaii, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China to use the network and cross-promote each other.
Besides the Stars and Na Koa, the other independent Pacific Association teams are the San Rafael Pacifics, Vallejo Admirals and BayCal Lumberjacks. Maui beat San Rafael in late August for the league’s championship.
The league is hoping to draw baseball fans from their respective back yards and those in the Far East, including China, Japan, Taiwan and Australia. That groundwork was laid last year, when Hawaii and Maui traveled to Japan for an exhibition series.
During the past season, the Ishikawa Million Stars and Shinano Grandserows, two semipro teams in the Baseball Challenge League of Japan, played as traveling partners. The games counted, and Ishikawa and Hawaii even traded players.
By joining HBL (an LLC is a limited liability company, not a corporation), a fan would become a free member and be able to view short video clips, interact with their favorite teams and players, and purchase all kinds of stuff.
As a paid member, fans could subscribe to live or delayed games around the world. The Hawaii Stars signed a three-year radio deal with New West Broadcasting in June, 2012. But games were broadcast only last year, not this past season.
The broadband social network deal would also allow each team to have its own sub-channel with community and fan sections to interact with other fans, sort of a Facebook with independent baseball as a main topic of conversation.
However, there is a catch: HBL is required to raise money for the partnership, and Players Network would be the HBL Network’s managing partner and operator. There are other strings as well. Players Network would be paid for its production, marketing and distribution services, and own 35 percent of the new network.
“We are thrilled to embark on this new paradigm of 21st Network to reach even more fans of Hawaii Baseball throughout the islands and into Asia as part of our continuing expansion efforts” said Young, managing partner of HBL. “Players Network affords us a remarkable and strategic opportunity to market our brands and styles far beyond the conventional of what exists today.”
In early August, Young held a sales pitch/free luncheon for community business leaders, asking for their cooperation, disposable cash and support to extend the league into a third season. The Stars didn’t announce if any of the community business leaders stepped up to the plate.
Last year, the Stars played in the North American Baseball League, which folded. The Pacific Association also experienced financial trouble with one of its teams.
In July, the Vallejo Admirals had to cancel a game after players failed to show up. The Vallejo Times-Herald reported that players weren’t paid their full salaries, and several front office personnel were either let go or resigned. (The team was quickly sold to a new owner.)
The Pacific Association canceled the four-game, season-ending series between the Hawaii Stars and Na Koa Ikaika Maui. It’s not the first time a season was cut short. Maui’s seasons have been shortened in the ballclub’s four years.
According to a post from Young, owner of both teams, on the Facebook page of Na Koa Ikaika Maui, the cancellation was necessary to “cut right to the playoff chase in San Rafael at the end of the week.”
“The HBL already has a substantial audience of baseball fans, which is the key to creating successful digital media partners that will fully utilize the power of our platform,” Mark Bradley, CEO of Players Network, said in a statement. “The NexgenTV platform combined with our professional services will allow the HBL to expand and amortize their audience far beyond the ballpark. This partnership will mark the first broadband network dedicated to minor league baseball that provides a platform to build brand loyalty and valuable additional assets to their existing business.”
According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of amortize is “to gradually reduce or write off the cost or value of, as an asset.”
HBL is not minor league baseball. The Pacific Association is an independent pro league. Minor league baseball is the feeder system to Major League Baseball.
As far as substantial audience of baseball fans, that really hasn’t been the case with the Hawaii Stars. In the season-opener in June, with homegrown product Onan Masaoka on the mound, the Stars drew just 317 fans against the Shinano Grandserows.
For the three-game series, Hawaii averaged 205 fans. Despite numerous in-game promotions, but very little outside marketing, the Stars averaged about 100 fans during the past season. There was no official attendance recorded on either the team’s website at hawaiistarsprobaseball.com or the league’s live stream site, pointstreak.com.
A year ago, Young talked about forming an ambitious enterprise called the World Independent Baseball League, which would involve independent teams from around the globe to eventually play for a world title.
The broadband social network could reach all those fans in new frontiers. Young is trying to lure Taiwan and South Korea to become traveling partners like the Ishikawa Stars and Grandserows.
At the luncheon, he said he’s sunk almost $3 million of his family’s money into his vision. The Players Network deal is clearly a step in the right direction. There’s just one catch: HBL needs to fork over more money.
