World Baseball Classic growing slowly, but far from mature
The World Baseball Classic returns Monday for its fourth edition, growing slowly yet still far from rising to the prominence of soccer’s World Cup or the Olympics.
South Korea hosts Israel at the opener of the 16-nation tournament in Seoul, and the Dominican Republic starts its title defence March 9 against Canada in Miami.
“The tournament remains very much in the early innings of its development,” Chris Park, Major League Baseball’s senior vice-president of growth, strategy and international, said. “Our ultimate ambition is to watch and supervise this tournament as it matures into a truly global platform for our game and a real competitor with the top international tournaments around the world.”
First-round games also are being played at Tokyo and Guadalajara, Mexico; and secondround games at San Diego and Tokyo. The championship round is at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles from March 20 to 22.
The United States, which failed to finish better than fourth under managers Buck Martinez, Davey Johnson and Joe Torre, is led this year by Jim Leyland and starts play March 10 versus Colombia in Miami.
The 2013 championship on the MLB Network averaged 843,000 viewers; it was the most-watched sporting event in the Dominican Republic in at least a decade, averaging an 11.2 rating on CDN. And in Puerto Rico, there was a combined 39.0 rating for telecasts on Telemundo, MLB Network
and ESPN Deportes.
“Let’s see if their success will translate to more people watching,” said broadcaster Al Leiter, a pitcher on the 2006 U.S. team.
The tournament is run by MLB and the players’ association and games will be televised in the U.S. on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes. In total, 171 countries will receive WBC broadcasts, and more than 50 sponsors have reached agreements.
Revenue is forecast to top US$100 million for the first time. Still, that is less than two per cent of the $5.5 billion projected by FIFA for next year’s World Cup in Russia.
While the World Cup is soccer’s
ultimate event, many players decline to participate in the WBC, which is played while their clubs are at spring training ahead of season openers that start April 2.
Japan won the initial tournament in 2006 and repeated as champion in 2009, but Houston Astros outfielder Norichika Aoki will be the only Japanese player in MLB who will be at the WBC this time.
“It comes down to a personal decision, and they have all of these competing interests that they have to contend with in terms of their own preparation and length of the season,” players’ union senior labour counsel Ian Penny said.