Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic featured franchises for the first time, with the overall aim of increasing the public profile of the sport in New Zealand. The inaugural competition was contested between ten teams, including the Waikato Wildcats and the Bay of Plenty Magic. At the end of the first season both teams finished at the bottom of the ladder, with the Wildcats 9th and the Bay of Plenty Magic last. Both teams decided to merge for the 1999 season: a new franchise was developed adopting the team name from Bay of Plenty and the colours of Waikato, becoming the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic. Bay
Radio Bay of Plenty as Coastline Radio, Coastline One 24, Coastline 1-2-4, One 24 Double X or Coastline Double X. 1XX began broadcasting on 90.5 MHz at 12:12:12 pm on 12 December 1988. The idea of a locally based and privately owned Eastern Bay of Plenty station was first floated in 1969, prompted by the efforts of pirate station Radio Hauraki, broadcasting to Auckland from boats in the Hauraki Gulf. One Double X was granted a broadcasting license in 1970, with the 1 in the call-sign signifying the upper North Island location, the first X representing private ownership and the second X chosen by