About us

The Auckland Tuatara was founded in 2018 as the first ever professional baseball franchise in New Zealand’s history. The team entered the 2018-19 Australian Baseball League season and played three series at home in a pop-up stadium at McLeod Park in West Auckland. Renovation work at North Harbour Stadium was completed in time for the team to play a full home season on Auckland’s North Shore in 2019-20. It was a successful season as the club won the Northeast Division and made the playoffs for the first time. The second largest crowd in ABL history attended the club’s historic first home playoff game. COVID prevented the team from taking part in the 2020-21 ABL season while it forced the cancellation of the entire 2021-22 season. The Tuatara will return to action post-COVID in 2022-23 with preparations well underway.

During the down time of 2021, the Tuatara management team began exploring the idea of the franchise expanding into basketball and they acquired the licence of the previous Auckland club in the Sal’s National Basketball League. The team entered the 2022 season and played home games at Eventfinda Stadium on Auckland’s North Shore.

The model of operating two sports under one umbrella has worked well and the future looks bright for the organisation.