News, Rumours, Timeline: Wei Chuan Dragons

With the recent announcement of the potential revival of the Wei Chuan Dragons by the Ting-Hsin Group, we figured it would be a good idea to set up a news tracker for this potential CPBL expansion.

We will do our best to keep this updated by tracking all the essential news and rumours in the chronological order. [Last updated: May 13, 2019]

2012

The previous CPBL commissioner 黃鎮台 (Huang Cheng-Tai) were spotted several times at the Wei Chuan Food Corporation’s head office in 2012. Many speculated the Ting-Hsin Group might be planning to return to the CPBL. [Apple Daily]

2013

There were rumours the Ting-Hsin Group were planning to purchase the Brother Elephants back in 2013. However, the company got themselves into a string of food scandals in 2013 and 2014. Therefore nothing materialised afterwards. [Apple Daily]

Note: The Brother Elephants were sold to the Chinatrust Financial for roughly 13 million USD and renamed to the Chinatrust Brothers.

2017

On August 14, 2017, news about the Ting-Hsin Group re-registered the Wei Chuan Dragons’ logo at the Intellectual Property Office surfaced.

However, it turns out Ting-Hsin only did that for charity. The charity organisation wanted to raise money for their little league tournament by selling the Wei Chuan Dragons’ merchandise. [ETtoday]

Note: It is an invitational baseball tournament named after the former Dragons’ manager 徐生明 (Hsu Sheng-Ming), who passed away from a sudden heart attack in 2013 at the age of 55.

16 January 2019

Mirror Media broke the news that the Ting-Hsin Group plan to revive the Wei Chuan Dragons and rejoin CPBL. [Mirror Media]

CPBL commissioner confirmed to UDN that he spoke with the owner of the Ting-Hsin Group on the phone regarding them rejoining the CPBL. [UDN]

Rumour Ting-Hsin Group set eyes on Wang Chien-Ming, Chang Tai-Shan and Huang Ping-Yang as the new Wei Chuan Dragons’ management team. [Mirror Media]

CPBL confirmed should the Ting-Hsin Group wish to rejoin the CPBL, they would have to follow the new team protocol and pay the entry fee. The reason being, the team Wei Chuan Dragons have been delisted due to disbandment from 20 years ago. [ETtoday]

Note: Here is the breakdown of the franchise fee for potential new CPBL teams.

Newly elected Kaohsiung City mayor told Mirror Media the city welcomes the Wei Chuan Dragons and will do everything they can to support the team. [NOWnews]

Ting-Hsin spokesperson told the media the company are currently evaluating the plan to rejoin the CPBL. [NOWnews]

18 January 2019

The CPBL commissioner and the owner of the Ting-Hsin Group will meet before the Lunar New Year (February 4, 2019). Should both parties agreed to terms in April, then Ting-Hsin Group can enter the 2019 CPBL draft in July. [Apple Daily]

21 January 2019

The Ting-Hsin Group spokesperson confirmed the Wei Chuan Dragons are indeed coming back to the CPBL. And the company will step by step to achieve that goal. [Apple Daily]

According to the Ting-Hsing Group spokesperson, the company are considering to base the team in either Hsinchu, Kaohsiung or Taipei. Sooner they can submit the new team proposal the better. [CNA]

The Ting-Hsin Group are now in the process of forming a new entertainment company, and this company then will use the name Wei Chuan Dragons to re-join the CPBL. [UDN]

23 January 2019

The Ting-Hsin Group aim to submit the formal new team proposal to the league before the end of April. [UDN]

21 February 2019

Both the CPBL and the Ting-Hsin Group had their first meeting at the CPBL office today. The former Wei Chuan Dragons and Sinon Bulls’ general manager is now working as a consultant to the Ting-Hsin Group. [SETN]

The Ting-Hsin Group will announce the new Wei Chuan Dragons’ general manager and team manager at the end of March or early April. [SETN]

24 February 2019

The Ting-Hsin Group is likely to set up the Wei Chuan Dragons’ farm team facility in Changhua County. [UDN]

As part of the Ting-Hsin Group’s charity program, the company is going to provide a full scholarship for three kids to study and play baseball in Japan. [SETN]

19 March 2019

The owner of the Ting-Hsin Group met with the the mayor of Hsinchu to discuss the potential partnership with the city. Hsinchu stadium is currently being rebuild and is scheduled to reopen by the end of 2021. [UDN]

25 March 2019

The owner of the Ting-Hsin Group met the CPBL team owners and general managers at a lunch function arranged by the league. Ting-Hsin promised to submit the proposal by mid-April. It is confirmed the team will rejoin the CPBL as “Wei Chuan”, but the mascot is still up for discussion. [Apple Daily]

26 March 2019

The Ting-Hsin Group is expected to announce its general manager and manager the Wei Chuan Dragons in early April. The former Fubon Guardians’ manager 葉君璋 (Yeh Chun-Chang) is one of the top contenders for the job. [Liberty Sports]

UDN reported the Ting-Hsin Group will make their general manager and manager announcement on April 3. [UDN]

17 April 2019

The Ting-Hsing Group name the Wei Chuan Dragons’ general manager, manager and two coaching staff. [Liberty Sports] [Our Coverage]

18 April 2019

The newly named Wei Chuan Dragons’ manager was spotted at an university tournament. According to Yeh Chun-Chang, there is a possibility the Dragons might go as deep as 20 rounds in the 2019 CPBL Draft. [UDN]

25 April 2019

The Ting-Hsin Group announced they will formally submit the new team expansion proposal to the CPBL on April 29. [UDN]

29 April 2019

The Ting-Hsin Group submitted the new team expansion proposal to the CPBL. According to the Dragons’ general manager, the first team home facility is likely to be in either Hsinchu, Chiayi or Kaohsiung. [ETtoday]

13 May 2019

The CPBL have approved the Wei Chuan Dragons’ expansion proposal. The Dragons will be able to participate in the upcoming draft in July and enter the CPBL minor league in 2020. [ETtoday]