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New world tournament
reflects growing global appeal of National Team baseball events
LAUSANNE,
Switzerland -- The president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation
(WBSC), Riccardo Fraccari, announced today the launching of the new
flagship men's National Team baseball event, The "Premier12"
world championship, which will first be staged in November 2015 in Taiwan
and feature the world's top-twelve ranked nations (The
"Premier12").
The
Premier12 will be held every four years and will become baseball's
highest-ranked international competition. The Premier12 champion will be
awarded baseball's largest prize of World Ranking bonus points.
The
WBSC will also guarantee prize money -- a US$ multi-million cash total --
among all National Teams/National Federations (NFs) participating in The
Premier12 and will also cover their costs (e.g., air travel, accommodation,
etc.), with the players being treated to premium services and facilities.
WBSC
has elected to stage the inaugural Premier12 in November 2015, following
the conclusion of many domestic league championships, to give the world's
professional players the opportunity of uniting to represent their National
Teams over 10-12 competition days.
Not
only has The Premier12 been positioned to avoid schedule conflicts with the
world's professional baseball leagues, The Premier12 will take place at a
time when Taiwan's climate should provide favorable performance conditions
for the players/National Teams.
The
WBSC will announce The Premier12's qualified National Teams later this year
(in Nov.), after the final 2014 World Rankings have been calculated.
Currently, WBSC's top twelve ranked countries in the world are No. 1 USA,
No. 2 Japan, No. 3 Cuba, No. 4 Chinese Taipei, No. 5 Dominican Republic,
No. 6 Netherlands, No. 7 Canada, No. 8 Korea, No. 9 Puerto Rico, No. 10
Venezuela, No. 11 Italy and No. 12 Mexico -- and only a few points separate
Mexico from No. 13 Panama, No. 14 Australia and No. 15 Brazil.
The
Premier12's innovative use of the World Rankings as the sole qualification
method is set to give a tremendous boost to the dynamics and the value of
not only the World Rankings but also the already successful Youth Baseball
World Cup platforms (U-12, U-15, U-18 and U-21), whose results are all connected
to the rankings.
Baseball's World Rankings (See
World Rankings and
methodology) are a reflection of a country's overall National
Team programme, from Under-12 to professional level. As such, The Premier12
will act as the lead driver to cross-promote WBSC's new and interconnected
baseball tournaments-framework.
The
guaranteed inclusion of the world's best-ranked countries in The Premier12
will ensure the highest possible level of competition and will position The
Premier12 to generate maximum interest from players, NFs, spectators,
media, sponsors and broadcasters.
The
Premier12 platform is being rolled out under President Fraccari in response
to the demand from the players, WBSC's NFs and Associate Members,
commercial partners and broadcasters.
"The
WBSC is thrilled to announce the groundbreaking addition of The Premier12
to WBSC's tournaments-structure," said President Fraccari.
"The
Premier12 will unite baseball's top nations and give baseball's best
players in the world the opportunity -- and the highest honour -- to play
for their countries on a global stage.
"The
Premier12 will be a worldwide spectacle that generates huge media numbers
and will not only be very exciting but also very rewarding for the players,
the NFs, the fans and for our partners, who have all driven demand for this
new event."
The
blockbuster announcement of The Premier12 comes at a time when WBSC's
National Team competitions are continuing to increase dramatically in terms
of their popularity, global reach and market value -- and when WBSC, under
President Fraccari, is seeking to strengthen the case for the inclusion of
baseball/softball -- one of the most recognisable, commercially successful
and biggest organised sports in the world -- in the Olympic Games.
"The
Premier12 underlines WBSC's commitment to further globalize and brand our National
Team events," said President Fraccari, "and the commercial and
broadcast power of The Premier12 is a concrete example that clearly
demonstrates the assets WBSC, our NFs and our stakeholders can deliver to
the Olympic Games."
Global
Broadcast/Media Rights
WBSC
projects The Premier12 will generate a global broadcast reach that will
extend to hundreds of millions homes and will be followed by millions of
young mobile users through Premier12's multi-language online/digital
platforms, which are under development and expected to be available -- at a
minimum -- in three languages (i.e., English, Japanese and Spanish).
Feasibility studies will be conducted on whether to expand The Premier12
online/digital platforms to include content in Korean and Chinese
languages.
Premier12
Tournament Format
There
will be a total of 38 contests in the 2015 Premier12.
The
Premier12 National Teams will be split into two groups of six and begin the
competition with a round-robin that will see each nation play five games
(30 games in total).
The
top four nations from each group will advance to the next round, which
begins the single-elimination knockout stages (quarterfinals, semifinals
and gold-medal final). A bronze medal match will also be organised.
The
Premier12 will always be scheduled in the year preceding the Summer Olympic
Games and could potentially serve as an Olympic qualifier, if included in
the Olympics.
The
four-year cycle will also allow National Federations to map out their
activity, develop their National Team brands, and formulate strategies to
climb up the World Rankings ladder by competing in WBSC sanctioned
competitions.
The
WBSC will reveal the "global" visual brand identity, including
the new logo, for The Premier12 in the coming weeks.
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