Thursday, May 12, 2005
Baseball World Cup
Not soccer-specific news, but interesting nonetheless: baseball's getting its own version of the World Cup, an 18-day tournament being branded the "World Baseball Classic."
The NY Times sketches out the proposal:
The soccer and, more recently, basketball elites have learned of the enormous revenue potentials of a thoroughly globalized sport, something that MLB's brass has been extremely slow to pick up on. This tournament could change that for good.
The NY Times sketches out the proposal:
[Next] March, by invitation, 16 teams will play four-team round-robin tournaments at four sites. Although details were not announced yesterday, one group is expected to play in Japan, one perhaps in Puerto Rico and two in the United States, one in Florida, one in Arizona.I'm not sure what it means for MLB's spring training, but this is a pretty significant development. It could be a major shot in the arm for baseball's flagging prospects, particularly at the international level.
The top two teams in each group will advance to the next round of eight teams, which will also be a round-robin and played in major league parks at warm-weather sites. The top four teams will play single-elimination semifinals in the United States, and the final will follow. The date being contemplated for the final is March 20.
The most attractive feature of the World Baseball Classic is that major leaguers will play to determine which of their homelands, not which team, is best.
The soccer and, more recently, basketball elites have learned of the enormous revenue potentials of a thoroughly globalized sport, something that MLB's brass has been extremely slow to pick up on. This tournament could change that for good.
