WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Trophy Tour adds another stop, Wrigley Field, home of MLB’s Chicago Cubs
LAUSANNE, Switzerland – The World Baseball Softball Confederation today revealed the Official Game Schedule of the VIII Women’s Baseball World Cup® 2018, which for the first time will be staged in the United States at the USSSA Space Coast Complex in Viera, Florida, from 22-31 August.
Download Schedule/Media Kit
The Women’s Baseball World Cup — baseball’s biggest event for women — will be contested over a record 50 games and in three stages: Opening Round (group stage/round-robin), Super Round and World Championship Medal Round.
“WBSC is proud to expand the Women’s Baseball World Cup schedule to 50 games, which represents an increase from 44 games in 2016, and more than doubles the amount of games [24] from the 2014 edition,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. “The top women’s baseball players in the world will have their biggest-ever platform to showcase their talents and our sport to audiences worldwide, as they battle for the world title and deliver more exciting National Team and Women’s Baseball content to fans.”
USSSA Acting CEO Don DeDonatis III said: “USSSA is both excited and honoured to partner with WBSC to provide the biggest competition platform to date for the Women’s Baseball World Cup. Having the eyes of the sporting world on USSSA Space Coast while these world-class athletes showcase their abilities over 50 games in 10 days is something that we as an Association are extremely proud to be a part of. We cannot wait until August 22nd.”
The battle For the Title of World Champion will begin with six games per day in the Opening Round.
Opening Round – Day 1
- Game 1: Unranked Dominican Republic will make their Women’s Baseball World Cup debut against the five-time defending World Champions, No. 1 Japan.
- Game 2: In a rematch of the exciting 2016 bronze medal game, No. 6 Chinese Taipei and No. 5 Venezuela will open together.
- Game 3: Hong Kong will face the 2016 silver medallists and top-ranked nation in the Americas, Canada.
- Game 4: No. 9 Cuba will meet No. 4 Australia, the top-ranked nation in Oceania.
- Game 5: No. 7 Korea will face Europe’s top nation, No. 8 Netherlands.
- Game 6: In a classic all-Americas affair, unranked Puerto Rico and host/No. 3 United States will meet immediately after the Opening Ceremony.
Japan has won the flagship women’s baseball global competition five consecutive times (2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016) and will take a 21-game World Cup win streak into Viera. The last time Japan lost was in 2012, 5-2 to USA.
Super Round
Following the 30-game Opening Round, the top three finishers from Group A will face the top three finishers from Group B in a three-day Super Round. A 7th-12th Place Consolation Round will also be staged to determine the final standings, which will impact the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Rankings.
World Championship Medal Round
The top two nations in the standings following the Super Round will play For the Title of World Champion on Friday, 31 August, at 18:00 local time. The 3rd/4th Place Bronze Medal Match will take place at 13:00.
Wrigley Field added to WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup 2018 Trophy Tour
Historic Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, is the latest destination to be added to the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup 2018 Trophy Tour Presented by USSSA/Florida’s Space Coast. The Trophy Tour stopped by its first Major League Baseball (MLB) ballpark this past Saturday, before thousands of fans at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. In total, the Trophy Tour will be featured at seven MLB ballparks in the lead-up to the Women’s Baseball World Cup:
- 07 Jul: Marlins vs Nationals at Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
- 13 Jul: Nationals vs Mets at Citi Field, Queens, New York
- 14 Jul: Blue Jays vs Red Sox at Fenway Park, Boston, Mass.
- 15 Jul: Phillies vs Marlins at Marlins Park, Miami, Florida
- 25 Jul: Diamondbacks vs Cubs at Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
- 03 Aug: White Sox vs Rays at Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
- 13 Aug: Diamondbacks vs Braves at SunTrust Park, Atlanta, Georgia
Record coverage is planned for the Women’s Baseball World Cup 2018, with host broadcaster USSSA producing all 50 games for global viewership.
The last WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup, which was played in Gijang, Korea, in 2016, registered a broadcast reach of approximately 100 million households and generated an online viewership from 198 countries and territories.
Ticket sales and media registration for the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup in Viera will be announced in upcoming releases.