The international youth event, to be held in the United States for the first time in 26 years, will be held in September 2021.

Sarasota and Bradenton will be the first U.S. cities to host the biennial Under 18 Baseball World Cup in 26 years, an event that tourism officials in Sarasota and Manatee counties said will bring visitors from within driving distance and all around the world to Southwest Florida during an otherwise slow season for tourism.

The international event, where the best 16- to 18-year-old baseball players in the world compete and showcase their talents to recruiters, will be held in September 2021 at Sarasota's Ed Smith Stadium and Bradenton's LECOM Park, the spring training homes for the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates, respectively.

Athletes from 12 countries will compete, according to a news release. The event is held every other year — the 2019 World Cup will be held in Gijang, in South Korea, from Aug. 30 to Sept. 8. Team USA is the four-time defending champion and will look to secure its fifth consecutive crown this fall.

The Sarasota-Bradenton area's status as an international sporting events destination and a hub for baseball fans were both reasons USA Baseball chose Sarasota and Bradenton as the host cities it pitched to the World Baseball Softball Confederation, Paul Seiler, executive director and CEO of USA Baseball, said at a news conference at the Powel Crosley Estate Tuesday morning. Seiler and his team came to Sarasota-Bradenton to watch the World Rowing Championships in the fall of 2017, another international event, and he said they were very impressed.

"We looked at the volunteer base here, and their experience in running world-class, international events; it was amazing. Watching that whole operation, it was really, really impressive — Olympic level — really it was," he said. "I've been to a few Olympic games in my job. When I went to the rowing championships, I felt like I was at an Olympic games, or better, to be quite honest. It was amazing. When we came down we saw what the team here can do — any hesitations immediately dissolved and we realized, 'Yeah, this is the right place to be.'"

The total cost of putting on the event for the region will be between $600,000 and $700,000, said Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Each county will contribute tourist development tax revenue to fund the event.

While the 2017 World Rowing Championships was a major event for the area, its spectators were mostly here to watch the competition. Sean Walter, director of sports for the Bradenton Area Sports Commission, said he thinks this international event will be different because Sarasota and Bradenton have established baseball roots and fan bases in Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The Pirates have been playing in Bradenton for 50 years, and the Orioles are in their 10th spring training season at Ed Smith Stadium.

The bid package Sarasota-Bradenton presented to USA Baseball involved details about activities in the area and ideas about where opening and closing ceremonies should be held, Walter said.

"We're in a big baseball community. That combined with names like Orioles and Pirates I think add the value to where people are going to want to come down. We're going to partner with Major League Baseball as well, selling tickets, so we're going to stretch out to the Tampa, Orlando markets and Miami, and reach out to Major League Baseball within the state of Florida. So I think that's going to be the overarching reach that's going to help us get the word out," he said. "We have feeder markets, whether it's Atlanta, the drive market, or if we get up to even in the Carolinas where USA Baseball is, they're going to get the word out, so we know people will come from there. Internationally, we know that parents will come as well, and there's a lot of people that want to come to the United States who haven't been there, and this is a great opportunity."

Virginia Haley, president of Visit Sarasota County, said that there will be plenty of information on site regarding things to do in the area.

"That's the beauty of it — there is that downtime. Just as with World Rowing, we were there with 'What is there to do, what should I go see?' It will be a similar scenario," Haley said.

The economic impact of the event has not yet been calculated, Walter said, but the benefit is expected to be great. In 2017, the U-18 Baseball World Cup in Thunder Bay, Canada, helped the Thunder Bay International Airport break its all-time monthly passenger record for the month of August and generated $6.3 million Canadian in economic impact for the city. The event also brought in millions of dollars in brand exposure for sponsors and commercial partners.

Riccardo Fraccari, president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation, said that the key to baseball's success and future growth as a sport is expanding its reach across the world. The international media exposure from the event will help the game grow, he said.

The last time the U.S. hosted the top youth international baseball event was in Massachusetts, at Fenway Park and Cape Cod in 1995.