Press release World Baseball Softball Confederation

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — 26 August 2019 — The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) President Riccardo Fraccari today announced that the WBSC distribute a total amount of $5.2 million USD in prize money for this November’s WBSC Premier12®, marking a 40% increase over the inaugural edition of this major international baseball event in 2015.

As part of the new prize money structure, WBSC will be introducing a bonus system that rewards a team for each win and winning the opening round — in addition to how a team places in the final standings.

“This Premier12 will be one of the top major international sports events of 2019 and one of the most important international baseball events in recent history, and the increase in prize money directly reflects this,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. “And with the introduction of bonus prize money for each game as well as winning the group stage, every game will count and be exciting to play and watch. The teams, players — and their leagues and national federations — are the main actors here, and it was a priority for WBSC to launch this new prize money structure and redistribute the revenue accordingly while helping to grow our sport globally.”

Top Prize, Bonuses and World Ranking Points

A top prize of $1.5 million will be awarded to the winner of the 2019 WBSC Premier12, with all 12 National Teams guaranteed a minimum share of $180,000 for their participation in the two-week, 32-game global tournament. Teams advancing to the Super Round will receive a minimum of $250,000.

In addition, a team will be awarded $10,000 for every game won in the Opening Round and $20,000 in the Super Round.

2019 WBSC Premier12 – Prize Money Structure (in USD)

1st Place $1.5 million 2nd Place $750k 3rd Place $500k 4th Place $350k 5th Place $300k 6th Place $250k 7th-12th Place $180k Each win in Opening Round $10k Each Win in Super Round $20k 1st Place in Opening Round $20k Total: $5,210,000

The Opening Round winners of Groups A, B and C will additionally receive $20,000 in prize money.

As per WBSC guidelines, a minimum of 50 percent of a team’s prize money is to be distributed equally among the players on the 28-man roster.

The 2019 WBSC Premier12 will also award the highest amount of world ranking points of any international baseball competition.

Helping to build unprecedented excitement and weight to this international competition, the 2019 WBSC Premier12 will reserve placement for two teams in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with one going to the highest-placed finisher from the Americas and one to the highest finisher in the Super Round/Finals from the Asia/Oceania region.

The II WBSC Premier12, which will feature the Top 12 nations in the WBSC Baseball World Rankings, will be staged over 32 games from 2-17 November — with opening rounds in Guadalajara, Mexico; Taichung and Taoyuan, Taiwan; and Seoul, Korea; while the Super Round and Finals will be staged in Japan.

Qualifying for the 2019 WBSC Premier12 are the Men’s Nati­onal Baseball Teams from world No. 1 Japan, No. 2 USA, No. 3 Korea, No. 4 Chinese Taipei, No. 5 Cuba, No. 6 Mexico, No. 7 Australia, No. 8 Netherlands, No. 9 Venezuela, No. 10 Canada, No. 11 Puerto Rico and No. 12 Dominican Republic. For a player to be eligible to participate in the Premier12, the player must be a national/passport holder of the related National Team.