WBC Excitement

There is a ton of buzz surrounding baseball right now.

With the WBC drawing in baseball fans of all kinds and another MLB season about to kick off, I cannot help but think about the tremendous momentum this game has right now. The game of baseball has made some great changes to make it more appealing to fans and there are some tremendous athletes that wow fans on a nightly basis. Everybody that is involved, the owners, players, and the commissioner must be looking at this surge in popularity and realize that no matter what happens the 2027 season must start on time.

The talk since the last collective bargaining agreement was signed prior to the 2022 season was that you could book another work stoppage after the 2026 season. The relationship between the owners and players has long been fractured. While another lockout is almost guaranteed to occur, it doesn’t have to lead to games being missed in 2027. The two sides can attempt to play the waiting game hoping that there is leverage to get what they want. But eventually a deal must get done and the 2027 season must start as intended.

Baseball has too much momentum to risk the strides they have made as a sport. The World Baseball Classic is a terrific example of how the game is growing at a rapid pace. In the first weekend of the WBC where the the matchups aren’t the must watch matchups, fans everywhere were tuned in. Overall viewership in the first weekend was up 142% from the 2023 WBC. The USA vs Great Britain game was the most watched non-final WBC game ever. That matchup was up 101% from the previous WBC.

The next day the USA vs Mexico game became the most watched WBC telecast ever on any network with over 5.5 million people tuning in. To put that into perspective, the USA vs Mexico game, which wasn’t even an elimination game, had more people watching than the average NBA playoff game excluding the NBA finals.

I can only imagine what type of ratings the USA vs Dominican Republic game will do. And if team Japan can make it to the finals with Shohei Ohtani, the ratings of the final game no matter if it is the USA or the Dominican Republic should beat the previous record set this tournament. The seen in Miami after the Dominican win was something to see.

Video Credit

The WBC is building off of the momentum that MLB built last season. The numbers in the 2025 season were terrific. Sunday Night Baseball, which is no longer happening with ESPN, was up 21% from the previous season. Games on Fox were up 9%. MLB Network out of market games were up 13%. And attendance was up up for the third consecutive year, which hasn’t happened since ‘05 - ‘07.

There is so much buzz around the sport right now, which I want to be excited about. However, we all know what is coming after the 2026 season. A lockout will happen next winter. A lockout can be necessary. There are some changes that are needed and a lockout will hopefully help resolve things. But if a salary cap is something that the owners will not budge on, it will quickly turn from a long winter to a long spring.

I want the players to feel like they agreed to a good deal. But at the end of the day, if they are unable to get everything they wanted, they need to compromise. They cannot forget what the players that came before them did for the sport to get things where they currently are. A deal must get done before Opening Day.

I think it’s safe to say that baseball is either close to the NBA or has passed the NBA in popularity. The NFL is in a league of its own. However, baseball and football occur in different times of the year with very little overlap. Baseball has the opportunity to dominate the landscape of sports in spring and summer. But a work stoppage that impacts games will undo a lot of the momentum this sport has worked so hard to gain.

While I want to get lost in all the excitement surrounding the WBC and the upcoming season, part of me is reserved and fearful. Hopefully everyone involved understands the momentum this game has and does not take it for granted. Baseball has an incredible opportunity on their hands to continue to grow and reach levels that the game has never seen before. It’s the duty of everyone involved to make that happen.