(Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
The 2023 World Baseball Classic, organized by MLB, was a resounding success.
Games showed an all-time high in fan attendance, because the host cities and its teams were carefully chosen prior to the tournament.
People watched from their homes more than ever before, more and more MLB-caliber players participated, the final was epic and had a showdown for the ages between Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, and the tournament was up to fans’ standards in almost every aspect.
That’s why the bar has been set so high for the 2026 edition.
The WBC committee and the league announced the host cities for the 2026 event on Thursday.
There are two returnees and two new venues.
San Juan. Houston. Tokyo. Miami.
The #WorldBaseballClassic returns in March 2026! pic.twitter.com/deNIYlEmS1
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) May 23, 2024
Miami and Tokyo will be host cities again in 2026: both venues reported some incredible attendance numbers in the 2023 edition and there is no reason to think they will ever be replaced.
The former has a sizable Latino community, and the latter continually draws large crowds from Japan, South Korea, and other nearby countries.
There will be a couple of new stadiums in the 2026 WBC: Minute Maid Park in Houston (which is essentially replacing Chase Field in Arizona) and the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taiwan won’t be used in 2026.
The 2026 edition of the Classic appears to be destined to be as much of a success story as its predecessor, with four quality stadiums in very strategically chosen locations.
Let’s all hope for an exciting tournament; and let the best team prevail as always.
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