WBSC names Korea’s Gold Ball Park as Official Equipment and Apparel Supplier for inaugural WBSC Virtual Cup 2022

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today named Seoul, Korea-based Gold Ball Park as the Official Equipment and Apparel Supplier for the inaugural WBSC Virtual Cup 2022 eSport competition, which opens in Japan, Mexico, Korea and USA on Thursday, 1 September.

As part of the agreement, Gold Ball Park will supply its high-quality, high-performance equipment and apparel, including the official bat – the “Impact” – and uniforms for the WBSC Virtual Cup players and tournament officials, in addition to special prizes for the winner.

The WBSC will grant Gold Ball Park global marketing rights as the Official Supplier of the WBSC Virtual Cup 2022.  The Gold Ball Park brand will be featured on signage around the competition venues, the  field of play and tournament materials such as the official programme and website, and have the right to run in-venue promotions.

WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari said: “The WBSC is proud to partner with Gold Ball Park to help ensure an exciting look and feel for this new competition while supplying all the competitors with the same standardized bat, which will not only deliver excellent results but also preserve the integrity of the competition so that the inaugural WBSC Virtual Cup launches successfully.”

Gold Ball Park is a subsidiary of Korean giant WeFan, which has existing partnerships and licensing agreements with various teams of Korea’s top-tier professional baseball league, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), as well as entertainment giants Marvel Comics and the Walt Disney Company.

WeFan CEO Kim, Gil Sang said: “It is our great pleasure to be the partner of an international event organized by the WBSC. With this important inauguration of the first Virtual Cup, we look forward to the event growing and becoming an international festival for baseball fans all around the world.”

In December 2020, the WBSC approved the inclusion of eSport with all virtual/electronic versions of baseball and softball among its official disciplines. The WBSC Virtual Cup is WBSC’s first proprietary eSport competition.