World Baseball Classic to Return in 2023, Full Schedule and Host Cities Revealed

MLB and MLBPA announced today that the World Baseball Classic will return in March of 2023, which is a very exciting announcement for baseball.

The World Baseball Classic is BACK!
🌏🌍🌎
March, 2023#WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/3lE3RLNBns

— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) July 7, 2022

The WBC first debuted in 2006. MLB partnered with WBC starting in 2013 with an agreement that the event would be held every four years. After a very successful tournament in 2017 — which the US won — the 2021 event was postponed due to COVID-19. Then there was the CBA lockout in 2022.

All teams that participated in the 2017 WBC (16) will automatically qualify for 2023. Four additional teams will be added to the slate via qualifiers that will be held in Germany and Panama beginning on September 16, 2023.

There will be four host cities for the 2023 WBC: Taichung, Tokyo, Phoenix and Miami. Since the tournament is held in March, which overlaps with MLB spring training, it makes sense that both US locations are in Florida and Arizona, which are also the two locations where MLB teams play in the spring.

Pool play will begin on March 8 in Taiwan and Japan, with the championship game being held on March 21  in Miami. If you happen to be in Phoenix for spring training, the city will be host to the US, Canada, Mexico, Columbia, and one of the qualifiers.