The 2024 WBSC Premier12 is the 3rd edition of the WBSC Premier12, a baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Originally scheduled for 2023, but delayed due to COVID-19, the championship will be held from November 10 to 24, 2024, in Japan, Mexico, and Taiwan.[1]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  Japan Mexico Taiwan |
| Dates | November 10–24 |
| Teams | 12 |
Japan are the defending champions.
Teams
The 12 highest-ranked national teams qualified to participate in the 2024 WBSC Premier 12, based on the WBSC World Rankings, as of 18 December 2023. On 20 December, the 12 teams were confirmed, with the only difference from 2019 was Canada being replaced by debutants Panama.[2][3] The WBSC had originally wanted to expand this edition but due to COVID-19, halted the plans for a future edition.[4]
Format
The format will undergo a slightly different format compared to 2019.
Opening Round
The tournament begins with two groups of six teams each playing in the 12-team Opening Round. Each team played five games, in a round robin format against each other in the group. The top two teams from each group advanced to the Super Round.
Super Round
The four remaining teams who advanced to the Super Round, will travel to Japan where they will play against the top two teams that advanced from the other group.
After completion, the teams who finish first and second will play the gold medal match, while the teams placed third and fourth will play for bronze.
Venues
Six stadiums are to be used during the tournament. Japanese cities, Nagoya and Tokyo plus the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, were confirmed as host cities on 11 September 2023, while an unknown country from the Americas would host the event too.[6] That unknown country would turn out to be Mexico, with venues in Guadalajara and Tepic being chosen to host a Opening Round group on 4 April 2024.[7]
| Group A | Group B | |
|---|---|---|
| Guadalajara, Mexico | Tepic, Mexico | Shilin District, Taiwan |
| Estadio Panamericano | Santa Teresita Stadium | Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium |
| Capacity: 16,500 | Capacity: 4,000 | Capacity: 10,500 |
 |  | |
| Group B | Super Round and Medal rounds | |
|---|---|---|
| Taipei, Taiwan | Nagoya, Japan | Tokyo, Japan |
| Taipei Dome | Vantelin Dome Nagoya | Tokyo Dome |
| Capacity: 40,000 | Capacity: 36,418 | Capacity: 45,600 |
 |  |  |
Opening round
The groups were announced on 18 April 2024.[8] The schedule was announced on 28 May 2024.[9]
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico (H) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Advance to Super Round |
| 2 |  United States | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |
| 3 |  Venezuela | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |
| 4 |  Netherlands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |
| 5 |  Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |
| 6 |  Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan (H) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Advance to Super Round |
| 2 |  South Korea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |
| 3 |  Chinese Taipei (H) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |
| 4 |  Cuba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |
| 5 |  Dominican Republic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |
| 6 |  Australia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
Super Round
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Group A winner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Advance to gold medal game |
| 2 | Group B winner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |
| 3 | Group A runner-up | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Advance to bronze medal game |
| 4 | Group B runner-up | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
Finals
Bronze medal game
| Date | Local time | Road team | Score | Home team | Inn. | Venue | Game duration | Attendance | Boxscore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 November |
Championship final
| Date | Local time | Road team | Score | Home team | Inn. | Venue | Game duration | Attendance | Boxscore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 November |
Final standings
| 2024 WBSC Premier 12 |
|---|
Prize money
The WBSC gave $5.2 million in prize money to participants, distributed as follows, with a minimum of half of a team's prize money to be distributed equally among its players:[10][11]
- Winner: US$1,500,000 (Japan)
- 2nd Place: US$750,000 (South Korea)
- 3rd Place: US$500,000 (Mexico)
- 4th Place: US$350,000 (United States)
- 5th Place: US$300,000 (Chinese Taipei)
- 6th Place: US$250,000 (Australia)
- 7–12th Place: US$180,000 each
- Each win in Opening Round: US$10,000
- Each win in Super Round: US$20,000
- 1st Place in Opening Round: US$20,000
Sponsors
On 11 September 2023, RAXUS was confirmed as a sponsor, with the sponsor name of the tournament being, WBSC Premier12 presented by RAXUS.[12]
- Japan group sponsor