Although the offer of international baseball looks increasingly saturated between the World Classic, Caribbean Series, Premier 12 and World Championships, there is a product that dared to be born recently and has its sights set on building its own legacy: Baseball Champions League (BCL).
The BCL was born in 2023 with a pilot event in Yucatán and in 2025 it registered its first official edition in Mexico City, at the Alfredo Harp Helú stadium.
In 2026, the second will take place in that same scenario, but beyond thinking only about the details of this year, managers envision a hit towards the global market that can reach its peak in 2030.
“Our goal has always been 2030 to have a global tournament,” Guillermo Ramírez, commissioner of the Baseball Champions League, explains to El Economista.
It refers to the fact that in the following years versions of BCL may be born and consolidated in America, Europe and Asiaso that finally in 2030 a tournament will be played between the champions of those continents, a version similar to the Soccer Club World Cup.
“We are ahead of schedule, that is the reality. The tournament has created too much expectation, so we can probably have it sooner,” the manager emphasizes.
Different markets
Asked what the difference is between the BCL and the wide range of international tournaments that baseball currently has, Ramírez answers:
“They are two different issues. The World Classic, Premier 12 and the World Championships They are selections. Those are not our target. We go for the clubs and, although it takes a little work for the Caribbean Series, it has to accept that it is also a club tournament.
“We are going for a global issue, not a regional one. While it is true that this is the American region, at the same time we are playing in Europe and we are going to play in Asia. Our strategy is to make club baseball global.”
The Caribbean Series was born in 1949, the World Classic in 2005 and the Premier 12 in 2015, although these last two are events for national teams.
For its part, the Caribbean Series involves teams between Central and South America, Mexico and Caribbean nations. The only exception was their 2025 edition, when they invited Japan Breeze, from Japan.
Now the turn to bat is for the BCL Americas, with six participants guaranteed in at least its first two editions. Mexico was the 2025 champion with Diablos Rojos and in 2026 a guest from outside the continent will debut, which is the CTBC Brothers from Chinese Taipei, joining the United States, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and the host country.
The projection is that BCL Europa debut in this same 2026 and that BCL Asia will do so between 2027 and 2028, while they adjust logistics issues.
Regarding the BCL Americas 2026the transcontinental participation of Chinese Taipei raises high expectations about the level of the tournament, although it involves an increase in investment in the economic prize.
“We have already increased it, but we still do not have the final figure. We are working on it together with the clubs and the internal committee of the BCL, but it is definitely going to increase. It is not easy to bring a club like CTBC Brothers, you have to put up a good prize money for them to come,” argues the commissioner.
In 2025 the total purse was 200,000 dollars and the managers indicated that the expectation for 2026 was to reach 1 million.
Challenge in stands
The first official edition of BCL Americas registered “around 12,000 people” in attendance throughout the week, the executive president of Diablos Rojos del México, Jorge Del Valle, shares with this newspaper.
11 games were played and the one with the most attendance was the final between Diablos and Leñadores de Las Tunas (Cuba) with 3,613, that is, less than 20% of the capacity of the Alfredo Harp stadium.
That is one of the main challenges of BCL 2026: to attract more attention from fans and for that to translate into attendance and interaction. Let the name of the product start to generate noise.
“The first edition helped us measure what type of event we were sizing. It was not what we expected in terms of capacity, it was very low, but that lets us know what we have to improve for the future,” says Del Valle.
“I think that, ultimately, the sporting level will grow with teams like Taiwan or Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, the United States and us. That will help us give more flavor to the event, which has the objective of growing for years and reaching a moment in which there is a global theme, which would be the most interesting for us (Diablos) because we want an international franchise.”
For Horacio De la Vega, executive president of the Mexican Baseball League (LMB) and part of the organizing committee of the BCL 2026, the reflection is to take a safe step.
“A new tournament always has its course and growth, sometimes organic and sometimes it has to be promoted. We have been very clear that we want this project to be developed worldwide, but we also want to be certain that the execution that has characterized us in the LMB guarantees solidity in the product.”
De la Vega adds: “Without comparing with the Soccer Champions Leaguebaseball is still very young and has to be understood and created. I am sure that the relevance it will have in the future will be very great. Right now it’s the same and we don’t notice it, but in the next four, five, six or seven years I am sure it will be an event of wide recognition.”
To reduce operating costs, the Alfredo Harp stadium will open at less than 10% of its capacity for Group 2 matches, which includes the representatives of Chinese Taipei, Nicaragua and Cuba. These will be played at 10:00 in the morning to facilitate the broadcast schedule in Asia.
The Group 1 matches, which Diablos share with the representatives of the United States and Venezuela, will be at 7:00 p.m. and will have 100% capacity availability. This encourages an expectation of more than 50,000 attendees throughout the week, says the executive president of LMB.
BCL Americas 2026 in data:
- Dates: March 24 to 29
- Venue: Alfredo Harp Helú stadium (Mexico City, Mexico)
- Participating teams: 6
- Allocation by groups: Diablos Rojos (Mexico), Kane County Cougars (United States) and representative of Venezuela in Group 1; Dantos from Managua (Nicaragua), CTBC Brothers (Chinese Taipei) and representative of Cuba in Group 2.
- Defending champion: Diablos Rojos (Mexico)
- Ticket sales: starting February 16
