WBSC Premier12

WBSC Premier12
Current season, competition or edition:; 2024 WBSC Premier12
Sport	Baseball
Founded	November 2015
Founder	World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC)
No. of teams	12
Continent	International
Most recent; champion(s)	Japan (1st title)
Most titles	South Korea (1 title); Japan (1 title)

The WBSC Premier12 is the international baseball tournament organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), featuring the 12 highest-ranked national baseball teams in the world. The first tournament was held by Taiwan and Japan in November 2015. The second tournament, 2019 WBSC Premier12, was held in November 2019, and served as a qualifier for two teams for baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Overview[edit]

From 1938 to 2011, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), then the governing body of baseball, considered the Baseball World Cup to be the sport's major world championship.^[1] Following the 2011 version of the event, the IBAF chose to discontinue the tournament in favor of the World Baseball Classic.^[2]

In 2005 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that baseball and softball would be removed from the Summer Olympics beginning in 2012.^[3] Thereafter, the IOC also officially reclassified baseball and softball as two different disciplines of the same sport.^[4] In 2013, the IBAF merged with the International Softball Federation to create the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).^[5]

On 27 November 2014, the WBSC announced the creation of the Premier12 tournament, calling it "the new flagship pro baseball nations championship," which would be held every four years.^[6]^[7] It was viewed as an event to fill in the calendar in place of the Baseball World Cup, since the World Baseball Classic took its place and an attempt to boost baseball's bid for inclusion in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.^[8]^[9] The WBSC proposed that, if baseball did return to the Olympics for 2020, the 2019 WBSC Premier12 be used as a qualifying tournament.^[10]

On 11 September 2023, the WBSC officially announced the third staging of the tournament for 2024, to be hosted in Japan, Taiwan and a venue in the Americas to be confirmed.^[11]

Participants[edit]

The field of the tournament consists of the 12 best national teams in the world according to the most recent WBSC World Rankings.^[6]

Results[edit]

Year	Hosts	Champions	Score	Runners-up	Third place	Score	Fourth place
Year	Hosts	Final			Third place game
2015 Details	Japan Taiwan	South Korea	8–0 Tokyo Dome, Tokyo	United States	Japan	11–1 (F/7) Tokyo Dome, Tokyo	Mexico
2019 Details	Japan Mexico South Korea Taiwan	Japan	5–3 Tokyo Dome, Tokyo	South Korea	Mexico	3–2 (F/10) Tokyo Dome, Tokyo	United States
2024 Details	Japan Mexico Taiwan	Future event Tokyo Dome, Tokyo			Future event Tokyo Dome, Tokyo

Medal table[edit]


Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	South Korea	1	1	0	2
2	Japan	1	0	1	2
3	United States	0	1	0	1
4	Mexico	0	0	1	1
Totals (4 entries)		2	2	2	6

Theme music[edit]

Heroic Charge (Bryce Jacobs)^[12]

References[edit]

^ "IBAF World Ranking Notes" (PDF). International Baseball Federation. 13 January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
^ "Taipei likely to host 2015 inaugural Premier 12 tournament: IBAF head". The China Post. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
^ Michaelis, Vicki (8 July 2015). "Baseball, softball bumped from Olympics". USA Today. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
^ Kolatch, Jonathan (3 September 2013). "Baseball and softball belong in the Olympics". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
^ "WORLD BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL CONFEDERATION SETS OUT OLYMPIC VISION". British Baseball Federation. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Canada qualifies for Premier 12". Baseball Canada. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
^ Yeh, Joseph (21 January 2015). "Debut Premier 12 baseball tourney to be held in Taiwan, Japan". China Post. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
^ Morosi, Jon Paul (23 January 2014). "Baseball, softball might still have pulse for Olympic status". Fox Sports. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
^ "New baseball tournament for top 12 national teams announced". ESPN.com. ESPN. Associated Press. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
^ "Baseball qualifying for 2020 Tokyo Games would be tricky". USA Today. Associated Press. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
^ "III WBSC Premier12 presented by RAXUS to be staged from 10 to 24 November 2024, Finals at Tokyo Dome". WBSC. 11 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
^ Alex Bell (29 October 2019). "WBSC unveils TV opening for Premier12 global baseball event". Retrieved 1 January 2022.

External links[edit]

IBAF Congress approves new Format of International Tournaments Official IBAF Website
‘Premier12’ Elite Baseball World Championship to be Launched in 2015 Official IBAF Website
Mundial de Béisbol Premier 12 Resultado de los juegos y estadísticas.

[ibaf_world_ranking_notes-1] "IBAF World Ranking Notes" (PDF). International Baseball Federation. 13 January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2009.

[2] "Taipei likely to host 2015 inaugural Premier 12 tournament: IBAF head". The China Post. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2015.

[3] Michaelis, Vicki (8 July 2015). "Baseball, softball bumped from Olympics". USA Today. Retrieved 6 November 2015.

[kolatch-4] Kolatch, Jonathan (3 September 2013). "Baseball and softball belong in the Olympics". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 November 2015.

[bbf-5] "WORLD BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL CONFEDERATION SETS OUT OLYMPIC VISION". British Baseball Federation. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2015.

[canp12-6] "Canada qualifies for Premier 12". Baseball Canada. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2015.

[chinapost-7] Yeh, Joseph (21 January 2015). "Debut Premier 12 baseball tourney to be held in Taiwan, Japan". China Post. Retrieved 6 November 2015.

[morosi-8] Morosi, Jon Paul (23 January 2014). "Baseball, softball might still have pulse for Olympic status". Fox Sports. Retrieved 6 November 2015.

[ap-9] "New baseball tournament for top 12 national teams announced". ESPN.com. ESPN. Associated Press. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.

[qualifying-10] "Baseball qualifying for 2020 Tokyo Games would be tricky". USA Today. Associated Press. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.

[11] "III WBSC Premier12 presented by RAXUS to be staged from 10 to 24 November 2024, Finals at Tokyo Dome". WBSC. 11 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.

[12] Alex Bell (29 October 2019). "WBSC unveils TV opening for Premier12 global baseball event". Retrieved 1 January 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

v t e International baseball
WBSC World Rankings Teams
WBSC Events	World Baseball Classic Summer Olympics Premier 12 U23 World Cup U18 World Cup U15 World Cup U12 World Cup Women's Baseball World Cup Global Baseball Games
Minor World Events	Grand Forks International Haarlem Baseball Week Summer Universiade World Baseball Challenge World Port Tournament World University
Defunct World Events	World Games Baseball World Cup Intercontinental Cup International Amateur Tournament Women's Baseball World Series
Africa	WBSC Africa – African Championship All-Africa Games
Americas	WBSC Americas – Pan American Games Bolivarian Games Caribbean Series Central American Games Central American and Caribbean Games South American Championship U-23 U-18 U-15 U-12
Asia	WBSC Asia – Asian Championship U-18 U-15 U-12 Asian Cup Women's Asian Cup Asian Games Southeast Asian Games SAARC Baseball Championship Asia Series
Europe	WBSC Europe – European Championship U-23 U-21 U-18 U-15 U-12 European Championship Women Super 6 Champions Cup Confederation Cup Federation Cup
Oceania	WBSC Oceania – Oceania Championship U-18 U-15 U-12 Pacific Games