In June 2009 , it was announced that the rights to the Claxton Shield had been sold to a new Australian Baseball League ( ABL ) , with ownership split between Major League Baseball 's 75 percent share and the 25 percent share owned by the Australian Baseball Federation . The 2010 tournament was considered preparation for the inaugural ABL season starting in 2010 – 11 . It varied from the 2009 Claxton Shield by expanding the season to include ten rounds . Since an uneven number ( five ) teams were involved , four teams paired off for each round and played a three @-@ game series , while the remaining team took a bye . During the season , each team had two bye rounds and played two rounds against each other team , one at home and one away . In total , the schedule allowed for 24 regular @-@ season games per team before a postseason similar to the 2009 edition : the first @-@ place team directly qualified for the championship series and played against the winner of a playoff series between the second- and third @-@ place teams .