2021 World Baseball Classic, most set to be played at Marlins Park, reportedly canceled
It looks like the 2021 World Baseball Classic will be the next casualty of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
According to a report from ESPNDeportes, baseball’s version of the World Cup that was going to take place next March and have a heavy presence at Marlins Park is going to be canceled and likely won’t be rescheduled until 2023. No official announcement has been made by the WBC yet.
The report comes while uncertainty continues for sports in the United States and around the world. Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and Major League soccer have been on hold for two months. College sports are still figuring out what to do with their fall seasons, including football. The 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo have been pushed back to 2021, adding another layer to the process of figuring out if the 2021 World Baseball Classic could be rescheduled since baseball and softball are both scheduled to return to the Olympics for the first time since 2008. That would have meant two international baseball tournaments taking place in the span of about five months.
Another factor: The World Baseball Classic is a collectively bargained event that requires approval from MLB and the MLB Players Association. Right now, MLB and the MLBPA have other, more immediate issues to address, namely figuring out how to play the 2020 season and address their collective bargaining agreement that expires in December 2021.
Marlins Park was slated to have an expanded role in the 2021 World Baseball Classic, including hosting the semifinal and championship rounds of the international event in addition to being one of the sites for the first two rounds of the tournament.
It would have been the first time one ballpark plays a role in all three stages of the tournament.
Tokyo’s Tokyo Dome, Taiwan’s Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, and Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, were going to be the other first-round venues. The Tokyo Dome was set to host the second set of quarterfinal contests.
“When we got the bid back from the Marlins, we were impressed not just with what we knew, which is the enthusiasm that takes place here for baseball, but also we were impressed that Miami and Dade County were open for business,” World Baseball Class President Jim Small said at the February press conference at Marlins Park announcing the host sites. “Things like hotels, things like support from the government, from the community here factored into the decision. Ultimately, that entire package was very impressive, and it impressed us enough to say we want to play the full tournament here.”
A record 20 teams were supposed to compete in next year’s World Baseball Classic. All 16 teams from the 2017 competition — Australia, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the United States and Venezuela — received automatic bids.
Twelve other teams were supposed to compete in a qualifying round at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson for the final four spots. That qualification tournament was postponed due to COVID-19 and has not been rescheduled.
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