WBSC awards broadcast rights in New Zealand to Sky TV for U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup in Palmerston North

Lausanne, Switzerland -- The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) announced today that SKY TV has been awarded exclusive broadcast rights in New Zealand for the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup. The event will open on 22 February in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with the top 12 teams in the world competing For the Title of World Champion.

The international satellite TV giant SKY TV will air a total of 33 games to its subscribers in New Zealand, including the bronze medal game and the World Cup final on March 1. The games will be aired on Sky Sport 8 (Channel 58), hosted by Stephen McIvor and New Zealand Softball Hall of Fame inductee Jackie Smith. Commentators for the New Zealand games will be Dale Husband and former Black Sox captain Rhys Casley.

The WBSC also announced that all 50 games of the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup will be live-streamed globally and free-of-charge for audiences, through the WBSC Official OTT Platform Game Time and the WBSC Official YouTube Channel. 

“WBSC is delighted to partner with Sky TV to broadcast the U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup in New Zealand. Their experience and knowledge guarantees for us a world-class production and a top-level product,” said WBSC Softball Chairman Tommy Velazquez. “In addition, with all the games available on our digital channels for the rest of the world, we expect record-breaking audiences for this youth men’s softball world cup.”

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The U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup will feature the best 12 National Teams in the world. The 12 squads have been drawn into two groups:

Group A: Argentina (2), Canada (4), Australia (5), Czech Republic (7), South Africa (10) and Singapore (17).

Group B: Japan (1), New Zealand (3), USA (6), Mexico (8), Denmark (11) and Guatemala (21).

The top three teams from each group will advance to the Super Round, carrying the result of the game played between each other. The two nations with the best overall record at the end of the Super Round will play the World Cup decider on 1 March at 4 p.m. New Zealand time. You can see the complete game schedule here.

For more information, the official website of the U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup is available in six languages (English, French, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Traditional Chinese). All tournament information, including rosters, scores, statistics, standings, daily reports and photos for editorial use, will be published through the official website.