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It often hasn’t been easy in the development of the World Baseball Classic, including this year, but the international tournament is poised for a marked escalation in viewership and overall fan interest this time around.
The event is back for its sixth iteration, 20 years after its debut, and with an unprecedented level of star power. As WBC pool play begins Wednesday night in Tokyo (Thursday afternoon local time), a record 78 MLB All-Stars are taking part in the event, including 36 from the 2025 All-Star Game in Atlanta. Qualitatively, that group includes nearly all of the foremost stars in the sport, including the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, Yankees’ Aaron Judge, Pirates’ Paul Skenes, Mets’ Juan Soto, Tigers’ Tarik Skubal, and Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
That collection of luminaries is a vast difference from the initial WBC, which did feature future Baseball Hall of Famers such as Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuki, Ken Griffey Jr., David Ortiz, and Mike Piazza, among others. Back then, though, convincing both players and teams on the merit of the event was still an uphill climb in many respects.
No longer. Between baseball’s rising international profile and the fast-growing interest among pro athletes across many sports in playing for their country—as seen last month in both the Olympics and NBA All-Star Game—the 2026 WBC had relatively little trouble in garnering interest from the game’s best.
“This is a culmination of many, many years of persistence and effort, along with the MLB Players Association,” MLB deputy commissioner Noah Garden told Front Office Sports. The league and union jointly operate the event. “The players have definitely bought into the fact that if you want to grow internationally, you have to lean into tournaments like this, and we see this as an incredible vehicle to grow the sport globally.”
No doubt adding to the sales pitch was the dramatic ending to the 2023 WBC. In that tournament, Ohtani, playing for Japan, struck out then-Angels teammate Mike Trout, playing for the U.S., in the ninth inning of the championship game to seal the title.
Ohtani, after a massive homecoming last year with the Dodgers to start the 2025 MLB season in Tokyo, is back there to start pool play with the defending champion Japanese team. Already, just his batting practice sessions this week have been the source of rapt attention among fans there.
Insurance and Geopolitics
Not everybody who wanted to play in this year’s WBC was able to, as insurance issues scuttled the participation of players such as Trout and the Astros’ Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa. Premiums for covered players are more expensive this time around, particularly after series injuries to Altuve and pitcher Edwin Díaz in the 2023 WBC.
There is also an undeniable geopolitical backdrop to the tournament. The Venezuelan team is arriving with stars such as the Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. and Brewers’ Jackson Chourio, just weeks after a controversial U.S. takeover of that country. The Cuban team, meanwhile, is grappling with U.S. visa denials for several members of its support staff, including the leaders of its baseball federation. The Israeli team will also be involved as war has broken out in the Middle East.
Garden, however, said the goal is to remain out of the political fray.
“We see this as an ultimate unifier, and we want to keep the focus on the field,” he said.
The 2026 WBC, and the national pride inherent in it, could also be a forerunner toward MLB players participating in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The league, union, and the LA28 organizing committee have been in active discussions for much of the past two years, but have yet to finalize a participation agreement.
“Our dealings are not with Casey,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said last month about embattled LA28 chair Casey Wasserman. “Our dealings are with the institution of the Olympics.”
Media Watching
Coverage of the 2026 WBC will be highlighted by the broadcasting of games in the U.S. by Fox and a Japan-exclusive deal with Netflix. Dozens of other deals with broadcasters such as Rogers and TVA in Canada, WAPA in Puerto Rico, and ESPN in several international locales, including Australia and Latin America, will cover other key areas.
Big viewership numbers are expected in many of those areas. In particular, if a Japan-U.S. final happens again, this time featuring Ohtani and Judge, an average U.S. audience of 4.5 million from the 2023 championship game on FS1 could be dwarfed.
“This event is firing on all cylinders,” Garden said, also referring to more than 150 involved brands from around the world. “This is all about continuing the momentum we’re seeing globally, and we are in great shape to do that.”
