The World Baseball Classic is being one of the world's most viewed baseball events. [1] [2] [3] The 2023 tournament was broadcast in 163 territories through 63 media partners, and it was broadcast in 13 languages around the globe. [4] and received US$100 million in benefits, [5] and In the Japanese archipelago, nearly 100 million people watched the WBC in 2023, [6] and 55+ million people watched the end of the tournament, as Shohei Ohtani struck out Mike Trout.
and the 2023 tournament semifinal between Mexico and Samurai Japan recorded 29 million average viewers in just two countries, higher than the 2023 World Series, making it one of the most viewed baseball event in the world ever. [7] [8] [9]
Tournament | Avg. viewers(Millions) (since 2023)1 | Founder | Number of teams |
---|---|---|---|
World Baseball Classic championship | 32.81 m [10] [11] | MLB WBSC | 20 |
World Series | 11.48 m [12] | MLB | 12 |
College World Series | 2.75 m [13] | NCAA | 20 |
Little League World Series | 1.08 m [14] | Little League Baseball | 8 |
The tournament is one of the most popular event in the Caribbean, Central and South America, particularly in Venezuela, part of Northern Colombia and is called the "Clásico Mundial". [15] [16] [17] The match between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico is considered a strong rivalry, called "El Clásico". The 2023 tournament was broadcast on China's largest websites, including Weibo. [18] The match between China and Japan was watched by up to 422,000 people. [19] and In addition, in Europe, In the Czech Republic, about 840,000 people watched WBC game through ČT [20]
In addition to Latin America, The tournament is considered a major sporting event in East Asia, particularly in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. In the Japanese archipelago, nearly 100 million people watched the WBC in 2023, [6] and 55+ million people watched the end of the tournament, as Shohei Ohtani struck out Mike Trout.
Classic | Date | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Network(s) | Avg. viewers(Millions) | Rating | Share | ||
Quarterfinals | Mar 16, 2023 | TBS TV Asahi | 38.16 [21] | 48.0 [22] | Unknown |
Game 2 | Mar 10, 2023 | 29.86 [23] | 44.4 [24] | Unknown | |
Game 4 | Mar 12, 2023 | 34.25 [25] | 43.2 [26] | Unknown | |
Game 3 | Mar 11, 2023 | 34.25 [25] | 43.1 [26] | Unknown | |
Semifinals | Mar 20, 2023 | 27.02 [11] | 42.5 [27] | Unknown | |
Finals | Mar 22, 2023 | 27.61 [11] | 42.4 [28] | Unknown | |
Game 1 | Mar 9, 2023 | 28.56 [29] | 41.9 [30] | Unknown | |
In the United States, the 2023 tournament was carried by Fox Sports for the first time, with games split between six Fox networks. The championship game drew 5.2 million average viewers in the US, peaking at 6.5 million viewers in the final 15 minutes. [31]
In the Mexico, the 2023 Classic Semi-Final match between Mexico and japan was broadcast by Imagen Televisión, viewed by 2.2 million people and This game brought together 5.3 mexican people throughout the nine innings [9]
A Video of 2023 Match between Japan and U.S posted by MLB on Youtube is attracting most viewers in MLB History, with the video being viewed by about 7 million people as of Feb. 24, 2024
Table based on 2023 Classic
Territory | Rights holder(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|
Africa | ESPN | [32] |
Brazil | BandSports | [32] |
Canada |
| [32] |
Central America | Tigo Sports | [32] |
Caribbean | SportsMax | [32] |
China | [32] | |
Colombia | Win Sports | [32] |
Cuba | [32] | |
Czech Republic | ČT | [32] |
Dominican Republic |
| [32] |
France | beIN Sports | [32] |
German-speaking countries | More Than Sports TV | [32] |
Hungary | Sport TV | [32] |
Israel | Sport 5 | [32] |
Italy | Sky Italia | [32] |
Japan | [32] [33] | |
Mexico | Imagen | [32] |
Netherlands | ESPN | [32] |
Nordic countries | Viaplay | [32] |
Oceania | ESPN | [32] |
Panama | TVN | [32] |
Puerto Rico | WAPA Deportes | [32] |
South America | DirecTV | [32] |
Southeast Asia & Hong Kong | SPOTV | [32] |
South Korea | [32] | |
Taiwan | [32] [34] [35] | |
Turkey | Saran Media | [32] |
United Kingdom & Ireland | BT Sport | [32] |
United States |
| [32] [36] |
Venezuela |
| [32] |
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The World Baseball Classic is an international baseball tournament, sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) through the World Baseball Classic Inc. The winning team is awarded the World Baseball Classic Championship Trophy. After 2023 World Baseball Classic, this tournament has become the most popular baseball competition in the world, overtaking the World Series.
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