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
Bay of Plenty Steamers Bay of Plenty would only win two matches against North Harbour and Otago in 2014 and finish last in the Championship. As being a larger region than most, the Steamers are one of the few teams to have two home stadiums, the Baypark Stadium in Tauranga and Rotorua International Stadium in Rotorua. Built in 2000, opened in 2001 and formerly known as Bluechip stadium, Baypark stadium is a muiti-purpose stadium that the Steamers along with Rotorua International Stadium. It has a capacity of 19,800, which was almost attained when Bay of Plenty had the Ranfurly Shield run of 2004. With