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Events and Attractions

World Baseball Classic Finishes With Record Attendance, Spike In Merch Sales

The World Baseball Classic finished its ’17 tournament with a final attendance of 1,086,720, up 23% from ’13 and a new record for the event. The fourth iteration of the event also included a draw of 51,565 for the title game Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, the most attended game of the tournament and second-most attended game in WBC history. The strong attendance figures added to a series of other record metrics posted during this year’s event. WBC merchandise sales on MLBShop.com rose 50% compared to ’13, and 15% within tournament venues, and set single-round concessions records during pool play in Tokyo. The tournament also generated 70 million minutes of live streaming consumption on MLB.tv, and a 41% rise in traffic to WorldBaseballClassic.com (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer).

NOT GOING ANYWHERE: USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale writes under the header, "The World Baseball Classic Is Here To Stay -- And Can Be Better Next Time." Nightengale: "The World Baseball Classic did not necessarily need Team USA to win the championship to guarantee future success, but let’s face it: The players' perspective has certainly changed." U.S. P Pat Neshek said, "I remember in ’06 ... this thing was kind of laughable ... Now, after what we’ve done, the way everybody is buzzing about it on Twitter, and all of the attention it’s getting, you’re going to see everybody in the league want to play in the next one." Nightengale writes how much that "enhances the event's stature remains unknown, but the early signs can't be ignored." The "hottest idea" among several players, such as U.S. C Buster Posey, is to "shut down the sport for two weeks every four years to play in the WBC, just as the NHL did for the Olympics." It probably "won’t fly among the owners, and many players would prefer a two-week vacation than playing even more games in a long season" (USA TODAY, 3/24). In Ft. Worth, Gil LeBreton writes U.S. CF Adam Jones dropped the WBC into the "laps of American fans and dared them to notice" when he robbed Dominican Republic 3B Manny Machado of a home run last Saturday (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 3/24).

PRAISE POURS IN: In S.F., Bruce Jenkins writes the '17 WBC was a "baseball dreamland: fans decked out in garish garb, players unabashedly celebrating every great moment, constant soundtracks of singing, chanting and the blaring of musical instruments as patrons danced their cares away." This was "baseball as it’s known in Asia and Latin America, just an ongoing festival of passion" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/24). In N.Y., Billy Witz writes the WBC was a "success in so many ways, with TV ratings and attendance spiking as fans in the four host countries -- South Korea, Japan, Mexico and the United States -- appreciated entertaining games and the passion that players displayed while playing for a country rather than a club" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/24).  In New Jersey, Bob Klapisch writes under the header, "MLB Should Say 'Thank You' To Team USA" (Bergen RECORD, 3/24). In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck writes if the WBC "taught us anything about our 'national pastime,' it might be that some other countries have a lot more fun playing baseball than we do" (Baltimore SUN, 3/24).

WHY WAIT? MLB Network's Kevin Millar said of playing the WBC every two years, "Four is a long time to wait. I want to see these players play multiple WBCs." MLB Net's Chris Rose said of the event going biennial, "I would love to see it. I think that we gained a ton of momentum based on the U.S. winning this thing. I would like to see us punch our ticket in 2019" ("Intentional Talk," MLB Net, 3/23). In Ft. Lauderdale, Tim Healey notes the U.S. win could "propel the WBC to a greater degree of popularity" at home -- among both fans and players/potential participants. Marlins C A.J. Ellis, who was supposed to play for the U.S. but withdrew due to an injury, said, "It’s really cool to see those guys step up and put a lot of those questions hopefully to rest forever." U.S. P A.J. Ramos said, "Maybe that draws more interest into the game. That’s what we hope, to expand the game and show we can have fun and the game is fun" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 3/24). 

IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE: In Philadelphia, Bob Brookover writes under the header, "Flawed WBC Still A Worthwhile Event." Brookover writes it "wasn't very friendly to those of us in the eastern time zone, where 7 p.m. is the ideal start." Only one of the 40 games played "started at that time, with the majority of games played in this country beginning at 9 p.m. and ending after midnight." Despite its flaws, the baseball was "mostly good, sometimes great, and even surprising" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 2/24). The N.Y. Daily News' Bob Raissman said the WBC should be played over the winter "when people are jonesing for baseball" ("Daily News Live," SNY, 3/23). SNY's Jon Hein said, "They need to change the timing of it, they need to change the players who are in it and they also can't have every game end at 2:00 (ET) in the morning" ("Loud Mouths," SNY, 3/23). In San Diego, Jeff Sanders writes under the header, "2017 World Baseball Classic Was A Hit But Can Be So Much Better" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 3/24).

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