2022 Year in Review: Virtual Cup success strengthens WBSC commitment to eSports
The Virtual Cup marked a significant milestone in the WBSC's event portfolio, becoming its first eSport competition.
The year
2022 will be remembered as a very significant one for the World Baseball
Softball Confederation and its event portfolio as the first ever Virtual Cup
took place across four different countries - Korea, Japan, Mexico and the
United States - where a total of 8,146 entries were received to compete in the
tournament, making it the most participated WBSC event in history.
The Opening Round of the ground-breaking event ran for the entire month of September before 12 teams participated in the Virtual Cup Finals on
27 November. Kimhwanhee님의 팀 of
Korea beat Tacos al Pastor of Mexico 18-12 in the final at Strikezon in
Bundang-Yatap in Seoul.
“Congratulations to the winners, all the 8000
and more participants and everyone that contributed to the success of the first
WBSC Virtual Cup,” WBSC
President Riccardo Fraccari said after the Finals. “Really excited the future of our eSport
programs.”
ESport has been a discipline of
baseball/softball since December 2020 while the formal integration into the WBSC Statutes came during the WBSC Congress in July, 2022. However, it was at the end of 2021, when President
Fraccari emphasized the importance of eSports for the global baseball and softball body,
especially after the WBSC was one of five International
Federations to receive an invitation from the International Olympic Committee
to participate in the successful
Olympic Virtual Series in 2021.
"Following the IOC's lead and building off our successful debut at the Olympic Virtual Series, the WBSC will look to expand its presence in the eSports space, helping to unite, develop and serve a global community of potentially millions of baseball and softball gamers," President Fraccari said.
The Virtual Cup in 2022 did exactly that, attracting interest from around the world as the WBSC, partnered with Korea-based Newdin and its ‘Strikezon’ state-of-the art technology, which were installed at venues around the world as the virtual field-of-play, to launch the WBSC’s first ever eSport competition.
WBSC Executive Director Michael Schmidt commented at the time that: “The launch of the WBSC’s new Virtual Cup platform alongside an innovation leader like Newdin will
ensure the successful execution of the WBSC’s forward-looking digital strategy
that aims to further globalize our sport and connect it with new audiences
beyond our traditional game -- helping to secure our sport’s future as the
world becomes more digital.”
The event was an immediate success when it launched on 1 September with $10,000 in prize money, a new logo, which was themed on baseball and softball with digital elements representing the speed of ball mixed with technology, as well as digital trophies and medals in NFT format – thanks to an historic deal with Leverade - in addition to the traditional winner's medals and trophies.
Gold Ball Park, based
in Seoul, Korea, became the Official Equipment and Apparel Supplier, supplying 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.
Hwanhee Kim and Chungyong Kim were the lucky winners on 27
November with Chungyong Kim being awarded the MVP title, receiving a special
edition baseball glove of Oh Ji-hwan, the Korean shortstop at the Tokyo 2020
Olympic Games.
"We did our best in every single game,
which led us to the great Final result. We feel great!" the two Kims said, adding that for
the $10,000 prize money they would: "split
it first, and buy some baseball equipment that we need. We want to give some to
our parents. Also, travel together."
It’s all
about growing the game of baseball and softball and the inaugural WBSC Virtual
Cup surely did that.
