CHANNEL Nine has signed the free-to-air rights to televise US Major League Baseball’s international season-opener in Australia when the Los Angeles Dodgers play the Arizona Diamondbacks in Sydney on March 22-23.

Nine has trumped Seven to win the rights to the SCG event, with cricket icon Ian Chappell hand-picked as one of the Nine Network’s figureheads in the central commentary box.

media_camera Australian cricket legend and former baseball star Ian Chappell will call the SCG MLB series for Channel 9.

Aside from being one of Australia’s most innovative cricket captains, Chappell also has a baseball background having being selected for an honorary all-Australian team in 1964 and 1966 as a catcher.

ESPN has also signed on to televise the MLB showpiece on pay-TV and beam it into Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, South America and the Caribbean.

In the lucrative US market, the Major League Baseball Network has been chosen as the national telecast partner.

“We’re really happy to have it, the Major League Baseball were great to deal with and it’s exciting for us to have something different,” Nine head of sport Steve Crawley said.

“The starts to the baseball season have been played in Japan in recent years so it’s an event and we’re into event television.”

The anticipated global audience for the MLB’s Australian experiment is tipped to be in excess of 150 million people, with the SCG to be transformed into a Major League Baseball field complete with an infield clay area, pitcher’s mound and dugouts for the players.

Channel Nine will telecast the Diamondbacks-Dodgers matches on GEM, while ESPN will show the Team Australian challenge matches against the US giants at the SCG on March 20 and 21. Tickets to both Team Australian Challenge fixtures are still available.

media_camera Arizona Diamondbacks hitter Paul Goldschmidt will be a major drawcard for the MLB season-opening series at the SCG.

Originally published as Channel 9 hits Sydney MLB rights