The Tokyo Dome and Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome have been selected as Asian host facilities for the upcoming ’17 World Baseball Classic. The Tokyo Dome has been a host venue for the tournament in each of its first three iterations in ’06, ’09 and ’13, and will again play host to first and second-round games involving the tournament’s Pool A featuring ’13 semifinalist Japan, Cuba, China and Australia. The Gocheok Sky Dome, which opened last September, will be the Pool B first-round host venue involving Korea, Chinese Taipei, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and a to-be-determined qualifier pool winner, representing the first time Seoul will be a WBC host city. The final WBC qualifier pool, scheduled for next month at MCU Park in Brooklyn, N.Y., will include Brazil, Great Britain, Israel and Pakistan, and the winner of that qualifier will be the fourth team in Seoul. Announcements for the other pool venues for the ’17 WBC, as well as the sites for the semifinals and finals and specific game schedules, are expected in the coming weeks. The WBC is jointly owned and operated by MLB and the MLBPA.
