All photos © Jamie Roach | Dreamstime.com
While the World Series isn’t like to become global anytime soon, Major League Baseball is following the National Football League’s lead and continues to make international advances.
In March, three teams — the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago Cubs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers — played exhibition or regular-season games in Japan and Mexico. All told, since 1996, the league has played more than 200 international games in 11 countries and territories.
MLB also expanded its global reach this season with events on six continents as part of the PLAY BALL Weekend in June. Intended to promote baseball and softball participation through 200 activities hosted by MLB and its teams, Minor League Baseball and its clubs, MLB’s five international offices and youth league partners, the special event included celebrations in Japan, India, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, the Dominican Republic, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Egypt.
For example, San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence and others traveled to Egypt to play ball with 300 children from the Cairo region, including those in orphanages and with special needs.
“The passion of the kids, and the fact that several of them look forward to this all year, to pass out wiffle ball bats and Major League Baseball hats and watch the joy in their eyes, and to hear them screaming for baseball, [is incredible],” Pence said at the time. “They want to play intense, competitive wiffle ball games right away.”
Another indication of baseball’s increasing international appeal is the popularity of the World Baseball Classic, a global tournament sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation in partnership with MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association.
Begun in 2006 and held every three to five years, it’s closer to a true “world series” than MLB’s World Series by featuring national teams with players from top-level major leagues around the world. Japan has won three of the first five world titles, with the United States taking home the prize in 2017 and the Dominican Republic crowned champion in 2013.
The 2026 edition of the tournament will be played in March in Miami; Houston; Tokyo; and San Juan, Puerto Rico, with the quarterfinals split between Miami and Houston, and Miami hosting the finals.
Miami is emerging as the U.S. home of international baseball, having hosted both the 2023 World Baseball Classic at LoanDepot Park (which attracted more than 1.3 million fans and generated a reported $267 million in total economic impact) and the 2024 Caribbean Series Championship game between Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.
When Tokyo hosted World Baseball Classic games in 2023, the economic impact was an estimated ¥65.4 billion, or approximately $444 million. Houston, meanwhile, is counting on an economic impact of $50 million to $60 million, with more than 350,000 expected during 10 qualifying-round games at Daikin Park (formerly Minute Maid Park).
Puerto Rico officials anticipate a healthy first-round windfall, too, with San Juan hosting 10 games at historic Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
“This event gives us the opportunity to continue showing the world our love for sports, the passion of our people and the island’s capacity to host world-class events,” Governor Jenniffer González Colón told the Caribbean Journal, adding that she anticipates $29 million in economic impact and $67 million in global media exposure — reinforcing Puerto Rico’s profile as a leading destination for major international events.
Puerto Rico Tourism Company Executive Director Willianette Robles Cancel noted that the event is projected to generate 27,000 room nights across the island, representing a direct impact of $10.4 million to the local economy.
Several MLB players are expected to play (or have shown interest in playing) for their respective countries’ tournament teams, including Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes for Team USA, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta for the Dominican Republic, Houston Astros infielder Jose Altuve for Venezuela and Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader for Israel.
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