WBSC unveils format for WBSC eBASEBALL™ Series 2024 – Road to ePremier12™
Following Saturday’s amazing WBSC eBASEBALL™ Series 2023 World Finals in Lausanne, Switzerland, the World Baseball Softball Confederation has unveiled the structure of the WBSC eBASEBALL™ Series 2024, which starts in April and ends with the World Finals 2024 – the ePremier12™ - in November.
The WBSC eBASEBALL™ Series 2024 will feature a variety of online and offline qualifying tournaments using WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS, beginning on Monday, 1 April.
Following the completion of the qualification phase in September, a total of 12 players will qualify for the ePremier12™, a new eBASEBALL™ tournament which will mirror the format and timing of the III WBSC Premier12 presented by RAXUS, which will take place from 10-24 November.
“The success of the inaugural WBSC eBASEBALL™ Series has provided a perfect launch pad into the second edition, which is expected to break participation records and feature the biggest tournaments to date in the POWER PROS series and eBASEBALL™ so far," said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. "This is a very exciting time for eBASEBALL™ and I would like to thank our close partner KONAMI for their great collaboration and passion in promoting our wonderful game around the world.”
During the ePremier12™, the 12 players will represent each of the Premier12 participating teams and will be divided into two groups.
One group will participate in live, in person tournaments hosted in New Taipei City by the Taiwan Little League Baseball Association (TLLB) and GetWin; and will be supervised by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA). Details of the second group will be revealed at a later stage.
The top two players from each group will advance to the Super Round in Japan, the birthplace of POWER PROS and home of Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.
During the Super Round, all players will play each other again before the third- and fourth-ranked players will play in the third-place game, while the top two players will play in the ePremier12™ Championship game, to be held at Tokyo Dome where the actual Premier12 Super Round and Finals will take place.
" I would like to thank the WBSC for setting up such a wonderful stage for the WBSC eBASEBALL™ Series and all the people involved in this tournament," said Tatsuhiko Yamamoto, Corporate Officer for Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. "I can't wait to see the historic moment when the champions of Premier12™ and ePremier12™ will be crowned in Japan at the same time. We look forward to welcoming as many people as possible to this tournament and spreading the joy of baseball around the world."
Of the 12 ePremier12™ berths, one has already been determined with Shoma Mori "SHORA", who won Saturday’s WBSC eBASEBALL™ Series 2023 World Finals by beating Takato Fujishima "fujito" in the final, confirmed as defending champion.
