The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has forced just about every sporting event across the globe to either be postponed or cancelled for the time being.
As days, weeks and months have passed and the United States has begun getting the virus under control, Major League Baseball and other sports entered into discussions on a plan for when they are able to return to action.
Nothing is set in stone yet, but it seems that a start to the season is not only possible, but likely. The latest report indicates that teams would play at their home stadiums in a season that would be around 80 games with realigned divisions to limit travel.
While MLB is eyeing a return, that is not the case for other sports and leagues around the world. According to Joel Sherman of The New York Post, the 2021 World Baseball Classic is being postponed until 2023:
The 2021 World Baseball Classic is set to be postponed until March 2023, according to multiple industry sources.
While on the surface it’s a bit peculiar that the World Baseball Classic made this decision almost a year before the start of the tournament, it makes sense when digging a bit deeper.
The World Baseball Classic is played once every four years, so delaying the 2021 tournament by one year would not affect the future of the event. That is a similar case to the Olympics as this summer’s games in Tokyo were postponed until 2021 at the earliest.
With players and countries from all over the world participating in the World Baseball Classic, it would be tough logistically for everyone to travel where they need to participate.
Additionally, sports likely will not have fans in stadiums until there is a coronavirus vaccine, which is unlikely to exist at the beginning of 2021. By delaying the World Baseball Classic, there is the potential to have fans in attendance by the time they actually play it, which means more enjoyment and more revenue brought in by the event.
Dodger Stadium has hosted World Baseball Classic in the past but was not scheduled to in 2021 with Taiwan, Japan, Phoenix and Miami as the host locations. That will likely still be the case whenever it is played, although only time will tell what other changes are necessary.
Los Angeles Dodgers teammates Cody Bellinger and Walker Buehler had previously unofficially committed to play for Team USA in the 2021 World Baseball Classic.
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