An exterior view during Opening Day between the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals at Marlins Park on April 4, 2012 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
By Matthew Tallarini
World Baseball Network
On Thursday in Miami at loanDepot Park, the Organizing Committee of the 2024 Caribbean Series and the directors of the Confederación de Béisbol Profesional del Caribe announced that the Caribbean Series will be played February 1-9, 2024, with seven teams participating.
The presidents of the CBPC Member Leagues and the three leagues participating as invitees were all in attendance for the schedule date announcement at loanDepot Park.
On Friday, the Organizing Committee announced the schedule for the Round Robin portion of the 2024 Caribbean Series, as well as the dates and times of all games at the event. Every game during the 2024 Caribbean Series will be televised by ESPN Deportes.
Day 1 of the 2024 Caribbean Series will be highlighted by the Dominican Republic facing Venezuela at 8:30 p.m. on February 1 at loanDepot Park, and another marquee matchup, Puerto Rico vs. the Dominican Republic, will be played Saturday, February 3 at 8:30 p.m. A full schedule for the 2024 Caribbean Series can be found below and at the end of this article.
The 66th Caribbean Series will be the third time that the tournament has been played in Miami, and will also mark the 75th anniversary of the CBPC. In 1990, the Caribbean Series was held at the Orange Bowl, which is now the current site of loanDepot Park, and in 1991, the event was held at Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium.
The Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Mexico, Curacao, Nicaragua, and Panama will be playing in the 2024 Caribbean Series. Curacao, Nicaragua, and Panama will be the three invitees playing in the 2024 Caribbean Series. Colombia and Cuba, who played last year when the tournament was held in Caracas, Venezuela, were not invited to the 2024 event.
Nicaragua will be playing in its first Caribbean Series this upcoming February. Curacao is in their second Caribbean Series after going 2-5 during the 2023 tournament.
The Caribbean Series is played between the champions of various winter leagues around the Caribbean and Latin America, though Nicaragua will be represented by the team that wins the 2023 regular season of the German Pomares Ordonez League during the spring and summer season.
Nicaragua will have to carry players that have played from the 2023-24 Liga Beisbol Profesional Nacional winter league season in order to participate in the Caribbean Series, and could possibly send a similar roster to the national team that played in Pool D of the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Curacao will have a newly-minted professional winter league for 2023-24 and will send the champion of that league. The Dutch island has not had a regular season for their winter league since the Curacao Baseball League participated in the short-running Latin American Series, which was discontinued after 2019.
Colombia was expected to be in the field in Miami next February, but did not pay the $300,000 to the CBPC, and did not pay a fee during the last four tournaments as an invitee.
The Liga Profesional de Béisbol Colombiano held a press conference on June 29 with Federacion Colombiana de Béisbol President Pedro Salzedo and Caimanes de Barranquilla President Roberto Char in attendance to explain the issues between the correspondence with the CBPC.
“First they told us that it cost $200,000, then $300,000. Apart from that, sending a team there costs $120,000, it would be $420,000 …for playing a few games. It is not viable,” Char explained at the press conference, the Colombian newspaper El Heraldo reported.
Colombia won their only Caribbean Series title in 2022, when the Caimanes de Barranqilla defeated the Gigantes del Cibao from Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana in the championship game at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal in Santo Domingo, becoming the third invited participant to win the tournament.
Colombia will play in the Baseball Champions League tournament at Parque Kukulcán Alamo in Merida, Mexico, from September 28 to October 1, which will be hosted by the World Baseball Softball Confederation Americas sector. It will be the first international club tournament event held by the WBSC in the western hemisphere.
The Caimanes de Barranquilla will be the representative for the Baseball Champions League event along with Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, the Leones de Yucatán; from the Serie Nacional de Cuba, Alazanes de Granma; and from the American Association, the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.
There will be 25 games at loanDepot Park during the 2024 Caribbean Series, along with three games a day and one team sitting out from February 1-7. The top four teams will advance to the semifinals, with a third-place game and championship game to follow.
The 66th Caribbean Series will be played under the new rules for Major League Baseball that started this season, including larger bases, restrictions on defensive shift formations, a pitch clock, a runner on second base to start extra innings, and a limit on the number of pickoff throws and disengagements by the pitcher during each at-bat.
This is the first time that the Caribbean Series will be played at a Major League Baseball stadium in the history of the tournament.
2024 Caribbean Series Schedule
All Games At loanDepot Park, Miami, Florida.
All times Eastern Standard Time.
Thursday, February 1, 2024
10:30 a.m. – Nicaragua vs. Puerto Rico
3:30 p.m. – Curacao vs. Mexico
8:30 p.m. – Venezuela vs. Dominican Republic
Friday, February 2, 2024
10:30 a.m. – Panama vs. Curacao
3:30 p.m. – Dominican Republic vs. Nicaragua
8:30 p.m. – Puerto Rico vs. Mexico
Saturday, February 3, 2024
10:30 a.m. – Venezuela vs. Curacao
3:30 p.m. – Mexico vs. Panama
8:30 p.m. – Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico
Sunday, February 4, 2024
10:30 a.m. – Panama vs. Nicaragua
3:30 p.m. – Puerto Rico vs. Venezuela
8:30 p.m. – Mexico vs. Dominican Republic
Monday, February 5, 2024
10:30 a.m. – Nicaragua vs. Curacao
3:30 p.m. – Venezuela vs. Mexico
8:30 p.m. – Puerto Rico vs. Panama
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
10:30 a.m. – Mexico vs. Nicaragua
3:30 p.m. – Curacao vs. Dominican Republic
8:30 p.m. – Panama vs. Venezuela
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
10:30 a.m. – Curacao vs. Puerto Rico
3:30 p.m. – Dominican Republic vs. Panama
8:30 p.m. – Nicaragua vs. Venezuela
Thursday, February 8, 2024
3 p.m. – Semifinal 1
8 p.m. – Semifinal 2
Friday, February 9, 2024
3 p.m. – Third-place Game
8 p.m. – Championship Game