The 2026 World Baseball Classic will be televised on FOX for the second consecutive time since 2023.
Major League Baseball and World Baseball Classic Inc. made the announcement on October 7.
FOX also announced on October 7 that they secured the U.S. rights to the 2026 WBC which culminates in the WBC Championship Game on Tuesday, March 17 from Miami’s loanDepot Park.
https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX/status/1975646490480578981
This will be the 30th season in 2026 that FOX Sports has been covering Major League Baseball events since the 1996 season.
The WBCI is an organization that is owned by the MLB and jointly operates the tournament with the Major League Baseball Players Association, and also works around logistics to have preparations for the tournament with the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The WBC is sanctioned by the WBSC.
2026 World Baseball Classic Nations
The 2026 WBC will be held with Pool A in San Juan, Puerto Rico at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Pool B in Houston, Texas at Daikin Park, and in Pool D at loanDepot Park in Miami, Fla. from March 6-11.
Pool C will be held from March 5-10 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.
The WBC quarterfinals will be on March 13 at Daikin Park and on March 14 at loanDepot Park.
The semifinals on March 15-16 and championship game on March 17 will be at loanDepot Park.
Pool A will have host nation Puerto Rico, Cuba, Colombia, Panama, and Canada.
Pool B will have the United States, Mexico, Italy, Brazil, and Great Britain.
Pool C will consist of host nation Japan, Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Australia, and the Czech Republic.
Pool D will have the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Israel, and the Netherlands.
The Pool locations and schedule is also located here and all confirmed game start times are located here.
World Baseball Classic Television Rights History
The World Baseball Classic was televised on ESPN and MLB Network in 2006, 2009, 2013, and 2017, prior to FOX agreeing the television rights before the 2023 event.
FOX will air 47 tournament games, all their family channels including FS1, FS2, the FOX Sports App, FOX One and Tubi alongside FOX Deportes will televise 28 Games in Spanish for the 2026 WBC.
During the 2023 WBC championship game between USA and Japan, FOX averaged 5.2 million viewers in the United States and in the bottom of the ninth inning the game peaked at 6.5 million viewers, prior to Shohei Ohtani striking out his former teammate Mike Trout to secure Japan’s third title.
Japan has won the most WBC championships with three in 2006, 2009, and 2023.
Netflix wins Japanese media rights for 2026 World Baseball Classic
The United States won in 2017 and the Dominican Republic won in 2013 and are the only other countries to win the WBC since the event started in 2006.
