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Japan beat Team USA in a close 2-3 game. The next World Baseball Classic (WBC) will take place in 2026 and we will have all the details here!
Table Of Contents
Where to Watch the World Baseball Classic
Fox Sports has exclusive rights to the World Baseball Classic.
The event airs primarily on the two prime Fox Sports channels: FS1 and FS2. And they are the exclusive homes for every game past the Pool Play. FS1 will air the Semifinal and Championship games.
Tubi will stream three of the first ten games. And Fox will air three games, including the Great Britain vs Team USA game.
See our schedule below.
Stream the WBC With Sling TV
Sling TV is the cheapest way to watch the World Baseball Classic. The Sling Blue plan costs $40.00/mo and provides Fox (select markets) and FS1. With those two channels, you can watch 26 of the games (23 on FS1 and 3 Fox).
This comes with roughly 40 other channels including A&E, AMC, BBC America, BET, Bloomberg Television, Bravo, CNN, Cartoon Network (Adult Swim), Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, FX, Food Network, Fox News, HGTV, HLN, History Channel, IFC, Lifetime, MSNBC, NFL Network, National Geographic, Nick Jr, SyFy, TBS, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, USA Network, and truTV.
To get FS2, which features 18 games, you need to upgrade with the Sports Extra add-on for $11/mo. It also gives you Big Ten Network, Golf Channel, MLB Network, MLB Strike Zone, NBA TV, NFL RedZone, NHL Network, Pac-12 Network, and Tennis Channel.
Additionally, Sling TV provides 50 hours of cloud DVR storage — great for when games overlap.
It also allows you to stream on up to three devices at the same time. And it supports most devices, including Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, and Roku. You can also watch on Android and iOS mobile devices (eg, iPhone). And you can watch on Android TV, LG, Samsung, and Vizio smart TVs and Xbox gaming systems.
Details and Structure of World Baseball Classic
The WBC takes place every four years — pandemic permitting. It always takes place in March — coinciding with MLB Spring Training.
It started in 2006 and has held events in 2009, 2013, 2017, and 2023. Up until this year, the event featured 16 teams. But this has been expanded to 20 teams this year.
WBC Qualifying
Originally, the World Baseball Classic did not have any qualifying. It was by invitation only. Qualifying was introduced for the 2013 event.
But qualifying was always a fairly minor part of the WBC. For 2023, it works like this:
- All 16 teams that played in the 2017 event are included.
- A 12-team competition took place in the Fall of 2022 from which 4 teams were selected to go to the WBC proper.
Note that the next event will likely see only the top 16 teams of the 2023 event automatically qualify.
The pre-qualified teams are Australia, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, South Korea, United States, and Venezuela.
The qualifying tournament was notable in that a couple of high-ranking teams were knocked out. Germany was crushed by the Czech Republic. And Great Brittain squeezed past Spain in the tenth inning.
The four teams that qualified last year are the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Nicaragua, and Panama. Panama last qualified for the WBC back in 2009. This will be the first time the other three countries have made the event.
WBC Structure
The World Baseball Classic is divided into 4 stages: Pool Play, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Championship. In that way, it’s like the FIFA World Cup, but without the Round of 16.
The event takes place in four locations around the world:
- Pool A: Taichung Intercontinental Stadium Taipei Dome in Taichung City, Taiwan — home of the CTBC Brothers of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL)
- Pool B: Tokyo Dome in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan — home of the Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB)
- Pool C: Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona — home of the Arizona Diamondbacks of the National League of Major League Baseball (MLB)
- Pool D: LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida — home of the Miami Marlins of the National League of Major League Baseball (MLB).
2023 World Baseball Classic Schedule
Be careful of the times for the games starting March 12th onward. They are all reported as Eastern Time — EST through March 11th and EDT after that.
The change to Daylight Savings Time in the US has caused different sources to provide times that deviate by one hour. These times are taken directly from Fox Sports and should be correct.
Pool Stage
- March 7 : Pool A — Cuba (2) vs Netherlands (4) (FS1)
- March 8 : Pool A — Panama (12) vs Chinese Taipei (5) (FS2)
- March 8 : Pool B — Australia (8) vs Republic of Korea (7) (FS1)
- March 8 : Pool A — Panama (1) vs Netherlands (3) (FS2)
- March 9 : Pool B — China (1) vs Japan (8) (FS1)
- March 9 : Pool A — Italy (6) vs Cuba (3) (Tubi)
- March 9 : Pool B — Czechia (8) vs China (5) (Tubi)
- March 9 : Pool A — Cuba (13) vs Panama (4) (FS1)
- March 10 : Pool B — Republic of Korea (4) vs Japan (13) (FS1)
- March 10 : Pool A — Italy (7) vs Chinese Taipei (11) (Tubi)
- March 10 : Pool B — China (20 vs Australia (12) (FS2)
- March 10 : Pool A — Panama (2) vs Italy (0) (FS1)
- March 11 : Pool B — Czechia (2) vs Japan (10) (FS1)
- March 11 : Pool A — Netherlands (5) vs Chinese Taipei (9) (FS2)
- March 11 : Pool D — Nicaragua (1) vs Puerto Rico (9) (FS2)
- March 11 : Pool C — Colombia (5) vs Mexico (4) (Fox)
- March 11 : Pool D — Dominican Republic (1) vs Venezuela (5) (FS1)
- March 11 : Pool C — Great Britain (2) vs USA (6) (Fox)
- March 11 : Pool B — Czechia (3) vs Republic of Korea (7) (FS1)
- March 11 : Pool A — Chinese Taipei (1) vs Cuba (7) (FS2)
- March 12 : Pool B — Japan (7) vs Australia (1) (FS1)
- March 12 : Pool A — Netherlands (1) vs Italy (7) (FS2)
- March 12 : Pool D — Nicaragua (1) vs Israel (3) (FS2)
- March 12 : Pool C — Great Britain (8) vs Canada (18) (FS1)
- March 12 : Pool D — Venezuela (9) vs Puerto Rico (6) (FS1)
- March 12 : Pool C — Mexico (11) vs USA (5) (FS1)
- March 12 : Pool B — Australia (8) vs Czechia (3) (FS2)
- March 13 : Pool B — Republic of Korea (22) vs China (2) (FS2)
- March 13 : Pool D — Dominican Republic (6) vs Nicaragua (1) (FS2)
- March 13 : Pool C — Colombia (5) vs Great Britain (7) (FS2)
- March 13 : Pool D — Israel (0) vs Puerto Rico (10) (FS1)
- March 13 : Pool C — Canada (1) vs USA (12) (FS1)
- March 14 : Pool D — Nicaragua (1) vs Venezuela (4) (FS2)
- March 14 : Pool C — Canada (5) vs Colombia (0) (FS2)
- March 14 : Pool D — Israel (0) vs Dominican Republic (10) (FS1)
- March 14 : Pool C — Great Britain (1) vs Mexico (2) (FS1)
- March 15 : Pool D — Venezuela (5) vs Israel (1) (FS2)
- March 15 : Pool C — Mexico (10) vs Canada (3) (FS2)
- March 15 : Pool D — Puerto Rico (5) vs Dominican Republic (2) (FS1)
- March 15 : Pool C — USA (3) vs Colombia (2) (FS1)
Quarterfinals
- March 15 : Australia (3) vs Cuba (4) (FS2)
- March 16 : Italy (3) vs Japan (9) (FS2)
- March 17 : Puerto Rico (4) vs Mexico (5) (Fox)
- March 18 : USA (9) vs Venezuela (7) (FS1)
Semifinals
- March 19 : Cuba (2) vs USA (14) (FS1)
- March 20 : Japan (6) vs Mexico (5) (FS1)
Championship
- March 21 : USA (2) vs Japan (3) (FS1)
Wrapping Up
Sling TV is the most economical way to watch all 47 games of the World Baseball Classic. Even with its base plan (Sling Blue for $40.00/mo), you can watch half the games including the semifinals and championship. And you can get 50% off your first month. Sign up today!
FAQs
Can I watch the World Baseball Classic for free?
Six of the games of the World Baseball Classic are available for free. Three games will stream live on Tubi. And three others will be broadcast over-the-air on Fox. In the case of Tubi, you just need to go to tubitv.com and watch. To watch Fox, you will need to set up an antenna. You can also watch with a 7-day free trial from Fubo.
Will there be any stars playing at the World Baseball Classic?
Baseball fans will recognize a lot of names at this year’s WBC. Team USA features MVPs Mookie Betts (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels) as well as All-Stars Trea Turner (Philadelphia Phillies) and Nolan Arenado and Adam Wainwright (both of the St Louis Cardinals). The Japanese team will feature pitcher Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Angels).
We have more details on Team USA in our WBC Team USA guide.
What are the results from past WBC events?
Japan has been the most dominant country at the World Baseball Classic. But Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are both very strong. The Netherlands and South Korea have definitely been contenders. And Team USA is the defending champion. Here are the results from previous editions of the WBC:
| Year | First | Second | Third |
| 2006 | Japan | Cuba | South Korea |
| 2009 | Japan | South Korea | Venezuela |
| 2013 | Dominican Republic | Puerto Rico | Japan |
| 2017 | USA | Puerto Rico | Japan |
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