WBC Announces Plans For ’09 Tourney, Distribution Of Funds

World Baseball Classic Announces Details Of ’09 Tournament

The World Baseball Classic formally announced that it will hold its next tournament in March ’09 with 16 teams. The eight countries that advanced to the second round of the ’06 tournament will receive the initial invites, including Cuba, Dominican Republic, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico, U.S. and Venezuela. The remaining eight teams will be invited in December of this year. The WBC also announced the distribution of over $8M in proceeds from the inaugural tournament to participating countries and the IBAF. The national federations will contribute a minimum of $3.3M to local baseball programs, while the IBAF received almost $1M for global game development initiatives. More than half of the net proceeds went to participating federations, the IBAF and Habitat for Humanity, the WBC’s charitable partner. The remaining proceeds were divided among the tournament’s organizing entities (WBC).