At Home Plate - Upsets in WBC Could Help Game Grow

Written by Jonathan Leshanski (Contact & Archive) on March 11, 2009

If there is anything that is going to spark greater interest in baseball worldwide, it’s upsets like the three which have happened in the World Baseball Classic this week. In Australia, Italy and the Netherlands, people who don’t even know the rules of the game have taken notice that their country managed to upset a baseball powerhouse and win at least a game in the WBC.

The Flags of the World Baseball Classic

Photo by ilovemypit, used under creative commons license.

While all of those nations have turned out a handful of baseball players, none of those countries boasts a professional league (the Australian league folded a few years back) and the sport is considered more of a curiosity than a serious endeavor by the average citizens there. But when national pride is on the line, an upset in a sport you are not supposed to have a chance in will drive up viewership and introduce a lot of people to the game of baseball.

No, baseball isn’t going to replace football (soccer) or rugby in the mindset of those folks anytime soon, but the fact that they’ll notice baseball at all is an excellent first step in raising awareness and could be the springboard to spreading the game to new markets. The question really is what kind of follow up the lords of baseball from across the globe can make happen.

And maybe for the first time MLB really has a plan to make the business of baseball a multinational business. Certainly there is money to be made, with tournaments like this, with the establishing of leagues, with a global pipeline for player development, and in advertising, equipment sales and television revenue.

The first step is drumming up interest in places where baseball doesn’t really have much of a face and there is nothing like an upset or two -- or in this case three -- to spike the interest in nations which no one would think of as hotbeds of baseball action. Reviving interest in Europe (where the game was well received during and after WW II) and Australia, plus the new interest from the Chinese professional baseball league, could be enough to convince the International Olympic Committee to reinstate baseball and softball back into the summer games.

From there it’s a matter of promotion and convincing billionaires from across the globe that setting up leagues would enable them to join the exclusive ranks of sports franchise owners, perhaps one day leading to a real World Series, but for now to act as minor leagues funneling talent to the Majors and to increase the fan base globally.

That’s not something that could happen overnight -- it would probably take decades for baseball to become a major sport in Europe or Australia. Even with a full blitz to promote the sport breaking into an established sports market is tough (just look at the minimal amount of ground professional soccer or rugby have made in the US), and that would be a good thing because it could lead to a lot of changes as to how MLB does business.

This, and not steroids, could end up being Bud Selig’s true legacy to the game. This could open markets to MLB expansion, assuring the health of the game for a long time to come. Of course there are still many obstacles besides creating the fan base for the game internationally, but as travel becomes faster, and interest soars in nations who a week ago barely knew what baseball was, the possibilities for the great game of baseball to get even greater is inspiring.

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Comments (2)

Ok, that really got me excited.

damn exciting to watch these teams play. I know a lot of fans don't really care about the WBC - but so far this has been a great tourney and really good for the game.