The World Baseball Classic will dominate baseball news in March, but it could be the last time it does so. At least if it doesn’t make a lot of money, reports Christian Moreno of ESPN.
The WBC, sponsored by the World Baseball Softball Confederation and supported by Major League Baseball and various professional baseball leagues around the world, was founded in 2005 and held its first tournament in 2006. Its impetus for creation was the removal of baseball as an Olympic sport for the 2012 games and, presumably, to continue on the tradition of Olympic-style international competition. That tradition, however, does not pay the bills on its own and does not bring forth the sorts of stakeholders the Olympics bring to underwrite a money-losing operation.
The 2017 tournament begins on March 6 in Seoul, Tokyo, Miami and Jalisco, Mexico, plays a semifinal in Tokyo and San Diego and then moves on to a final on March 22nd in Los Angeles.
If you’re a fan of the WBC, you’re going to want to hope that a lot of people buy some tickets or some gear to keep it going. If they don’t, and if this report is correct, any tickets or gear you buy may become far more historically significant souvenirs than you think.
