"For years, while football fans salivated over Fifa World Cups, and basketball and hockey enthusiasts enjoyed an endless parade of NBA and NHL stars at the Olympics, baseball fans had bupkis, with no legitimate international tournament to speak of. Instead, there was something called the Baseball World Cup. Played without a Yankee, Cub or Dodger in sight, but with representatives from teams including the Montgomery Biscuits, Mexico Red Devils and Winnipeg Goldeyes, few fans in North America knew it existed."
"Then in 2006 came a breakthrough with the debut of the 16-nation World Baseball Classic, which featured legitimate professional stars. The platform was built, the mysterious Cubans finally got to play in the US and the fans came. The tournament averaged nearly 19,000 fans a game, and that included the empty seat, Australia-Italy type match-ups."
"The WBC is now the international baseball tournament (the Olympic event will return for LA 2028 but baseball at the Games has often seemed like an afterthought). For all the differences between the WBC's co-owners the MLB Players' Association and MLB the one thing that brings them together is money, and this event is profitable, taking in about $100m in 2023."
Baseball lacked a legitimate international tournament for decades, with the Baseball World Cup featuring minor league teams and Cuban players excluded by politics. The 2006 debut of the World Baseball Classic transformed the landscape by featuring Major League Baseball stars and attracting nearly 19,000 fans per game. Japan won the inaugural tournament, defeating Cuba. Two decades later, the WBC has become baseball's dominant international event, surpassing the Olympic tournament as the premier competition. Despite occasional tensions between co-owners MLB and the Players' Association, the tournament's profitability—generating approximately $100 million in 2023—ensures its permanence and growing impact on professional baseball.
#world-baseball-classic #international-baseball-tournament #mlb-professional-sports #sports-event-growth #baseball-globalization
Read at www.theguardian.com
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