With the 2026 World Baseball Classic behind us, the next WBC is, at minimum, about 2 1/2 years away.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Major League Baseball’s office in Mexico wants the league to consider having a Pool Play site in either Mexico City, Guadalajara, or Monterrey when the next WBC rolls around.
It stands to reason, based on recent history, that Miami’s loanDepot Park and at least one other MLB stadium, likely with a retractable or permanent roof, will host at least two of the pools at the next WBC. But where else could potentially host WBC Pool Play? Here are six ballparks that are, perhaps, a little outside the box, but all would bring interesting cities into the mix.
1. Estadio Teodoro Mariscal – Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico – Built in 1962 and renovated in 2018, Estadio Teodoro Mariscal is the best candidate of the 10 stadiums in the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico, Mexico’s professional winter league, to host WBC play. The home of the Venados de Mazatlan, which seats 16,000, is just blocks from the beautiful beaches on the Pacific Ocean. In March, the city has pleasant weather, with an average temperature of 70 degrees, and should the WBC move to the summer, it’s location on the water means it won’t be too hot.
The drawbacks to having Pool Play in Mazatlan are its relatively remote location, with travelers coming by air likely having to change planes at least once to get there. Its location in Sinaloa, one of the more dangerous states in Mexico due to cartel violence, is also something Mazatlan would have to overcome. Though the city itself is safe in its touristy areas, the State of Sinaloa is under a Level 4 Travel Advisory by the U.S. Department of State.
2. Taipei Dome – Taipei City, Taiwan – The Taipei Dome, which hosted the 2025 World Baseball Classic Qualifier where Nicaragua went 3-0 and Chinese Taipei secured a spot in the 2026 tournament field as its first big event, seats 40,000 for baseball, is brand new, has a roof, and is conveniently located to Asia and Australia by air. Taiwan previously hosted Pool Play in 2013 and 2023 at Taichung International Baseball Stadium, an outdoor venue with 23,341 seats, and New Taipei City hosted a WBC Qualifier in 2013.
If the WBC returns to Taiwan, the Taipei Dome is a likely candidate to host. That said, if there is only going to be one Pool Play venue in Asia, it’d be hard to pick Taiwan over Tokyo, where the Tokyo Dome seats 45,000 and is centrally located to all of Japan and less than an hour from an airport from where you can fly nearly anywhere in the world.
(Photo: Leif Skodnick/World Baseball Network)
3. Parque Kukulkan Alamo – Merida, Yucatan, Mexico – The first venue for the WBSC Baseball Champions League Americas seats 16,000 and just underwent a thorough and desperately needed renovation after hosting the 2023 BCL Americas. Located in Merida, Mexico’s safest city, it hosts the Leones de Yucatan of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, the country’s summer league, and frequently hosts WBSC events.
While Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey are all larger stadiums in bigger cities that have international air service, Merida is also at a much lower elevation than all three of those cities. Both Mexico City, at approximately 7,300 feet, and Guadalajara, at approximately 5,000 feet, are at high elevations that affect the game on the field significantly, while Monterrey, at approximately 1,700 feet, and Merida, located near sea level, offer comparable altitude to other host venues. Merida also has daily air service to Miami, Dallas, and Houston, all of which are either possible or likely hosts for the next WBC.
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
4. B.C. Place – Vancouver, British Columbia – Sure, Major League Baseball has a limited history in Canada’s westernmost province, and international baseball has even less, but B.C. Place has hosted baseball previously, and hosting Pool Play at the next WBC could be an interesting test of the city’s viability as an MLB market. Vancouver mayor Ken Sim recently called for the city’s business community to put together a proposal for an MLB expansion franchise, so don’t count Vancouver out.
Originally built with an air-supported roof similar to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the Tokyo Dome, it now has a unique retractable roof. Because it was built to host Canadian football, which is played on a significantly larger field than the American game, a baseball field doesn’t have to be crammed in the way they often are in other domed stadiums.
(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
5. Estadio Monumental Simon Bolivar – Caracas, Venezuela – This beautiful ballpark, set in the hills above Venezuela’s capital, will almost certainly host MLB exhibition games at some point. It’s already hosted the 2023 Caribbean Series and the 2026 Serie de Las Americas, and is the second-largest ballpark in Latin America behind Havana’s aging Estadio Latinoamericano.
With Venezuela having won the 2023 World Baseball Classic, a round of Pool Play at Estadio Monumental featuring Venezuela would be a party not to be missed, and if Venezuela’s political situation stabilizes and the economy improves, it will likely be strongly considered.
Los Angeles Dodgers players take the field during a baseball workout at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
6. Gocheok Sky Dome – Seoul, South Korea – The first indoor ballpark in South Korea was the site of the Los Angeles Dodgers season-opening series against the San Diego Padres in 2024, and thus also the place where the news of the Ippei Mizuhara gambling scandal broke.
The 16,744-seat ballpark is the home of the Korea Baseball Organization’s Kiwoom Heroes, and the main drawback is that the ballpark’s seating capacity is small. That said, in a WBC where there are two Pool Play venues in Asia, one of the two would likely be be in Japan, where the crowds would be enormous. Perhaps Seoul could host a pool with Korea and other countries from around the world, exposing South Korea and its baseball culture around the world.
Top photo: Estadio Teodoro Mariscal in Mazatlan, Mexico could potentially host World Baseball Classic Pool Play when the tournament comes around again. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
