The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) and Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) the nation’s leading professional sports league and WBSC Premier12® Group C host will reveal the game schedule and Ambassador for the Seoul round at a press conference on Monday, 15 April, in the Korean capital. The occasion will be live-streamed for members of the […]
via Watch the 2019 WBSC Premier12 Group C Press Conference live from Seoul, Korea — finixsportsblog
The World Baseball Softball Confederation and the Korea Baseball Organization today announced that South Korean baseball legend Chan-ho Park will serve as an official Global Ambassador of the 2015 WBSC Premier12™, which is being launched this November (8-21) in Japan and Taiwan.
The WBSC Premier12 is the top international baseball tournament on the 2015 calendar, distributing the top purse and largest sum of world ranking points.
Park was the first Major League Baseball (MLB) player in history from South Korea, making his debut as a pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1994. Prior to retiring in 2012, the international baseball pioneer had also competed in the top leagues in Japan and South Korea, Nippon Professional Baseball and KBO, respectively.
As a member of the South Korean National Baseball Team, Park helped his country capture the gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand, while also earning two silver medals in 1993 at the BFA Asian Baseball Championship and FISU Summer Universiade.
“It’s an honour to have Chan-ho Park, one of South Korea’s most storied baseball players, as a WBSC Premier12 Global Ambassador,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. “He personifies ‘global baseball’ and the new WBSC Premier12 flagship platform: he has played at the top level, and has represented his country and our sport proudly on the international stage.”
Peter O’Malley, who was the president of the Dodgers when Park signed with the club, said: “Chan-ho Park is recognised as a true international baseball goodwill ambassador.”
Said Park: “I am very honoured and take very seriously this appointment as a Global Ambassador of the inaugural 2015 WBSC Premier12. The sport of baseball has shaped my life, and I embrace this responsibility to represent the sport of baseball at the world level for WBSC and Premier12. Playing for my National Team will always be one of my fondest memories of my career, and I will do everything I can to help promote the ideal, the duty and the sense of pride that comes with putting your country first.”
The success of the South Korean National Baseball Team, particularly following the gold medal win at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, has helped fuel baseball’s position as the most popular spectator sport in South Korea, with KBO setting record attendance numbers across all sports in the nation, surpassing 7.15 million in annual attendance in 2013 – more than five times the annual attendance of the next sport.
KBO stars will be united on their National Team to defend South Korea in the WBSC Premier12 global baseball battle.
Additional 2015 WBSC Premier12 Global Ambassadors — in collaboration with the participating Premier12 teams — will be announced in the lead up to the event, which gets underway with world No. 1 Japan and world No. 8 South Korea in a special opener at the 40,000-seat Sapporo Dome in Japan on Sunday, 8 November.
The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today announced that Seoul-based SBS has been awarded broadcast rights in South Korea for the 2015 WBSC Premier12™, the newest international baseball flagship tournament that is being launched in Japan and Taiwan this November by the world governing body.
SBS — one of South Korea’s top television networks positioned to reach out to the nation’s population of approximately 51 million — was selected by WBSC and awarded the exclusive broadcasting rights of the 2015 WBSC Premier12 across all media platforms, including online and television.
Baseball is the most popular spectator sport in South Korea, and stars from the nation’s top professional sport league, Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), will unite to defend world No. 8 South Korea in the inaugural WBSC Premier12 global baseball battle.
The new global platform will feature, for the first time ever, head-to-head action between the professional National Teams of the Top 12 countries in the WBSC Baseball World Rankings.The 2015 WBSC Premier12 will be the top international baseball event of the year, also offering the top purse and highest award of world ranking points.
“WBSC is thrilled to partner with one of South Korea’s premier national networks,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. “Through SBS’s leading multiplatform network, millions of passionate fans in this great baseball nation will be able to follow all the action of some of their heroes competing in their country’s name on the WBSC Premier12 global stage. The SBS-WBSC partnership on Premier12 is another major milestone that highlights the appeal of this new flagship event — and National Team competitions in our sport, in general – and further positions baseball’s growth and stronghold in this key market.”
Said SBS CEO Woong-mo Lee: “SBS is extremely delighted to be WBSC’s exclusive partner to bring this exciting new international baseball flagship product to audiences nationwide in South Korea. SBS prides itself on featuring premium content that is in demand, resonates with the widest range of our loyal viewers and sparks increased viewership, and adding the WBSC Premier12 and more baseball to SBS’s portfolio is a reflection on this successful strategy.”
Before heading to Taiwan for the official start of the group phase, rivals South Korea and top-ranked Japan will meet in a special opener of the WBSC Premier12 on 8 November at the 40,000-seat Sapporo Dome. It will be the first time in six years that the top professional National Teams of Samurai Japan and South Korea collide.
Japan and South Korea are in Group B, alongside No. 2 United States, No. 6 Dominican Republic, No. 10 Venezuela and No. 12 Mexico.
In Group A: No. 3 Cuba, No. 4 Chinese Taipei, No. 5 Netherlands, No. 7 Canada, No. 9 Puerto Rico and No. 11 Italy.
The top four nations from each group will advance to the quarter-final knockout stage in Taiwan, with the WBSC Premier12 moving to Japan’s Tokyo Dome for the semi-finals and finals.
Opening round groups for the first-ever Premier12™ global baseball tournament, which unites the twelve highest-ranked countries from the WBSC Baseball World Rankings, were among a series of major announcements at a press conference Wednesday led by WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari in the South Korean capital.
In the day’s most anticipated news surrounding the new Premier12 — which will be staged in Japan and Taiwan from 8-21 November — the two groups for the event’s Opening Round were revealed:
Group A: Co-host/World No. 4 Chinese Taipei, No. 3 Cuba, No. 5 Netherlands, No. 7 Canada, No. 9 Puerto Rico and No. 11 Italy
Group B: Co-host/World No. 1 Japan, No. 2 United States, No. 6 Dominican Republic, No. 8 South Korea, No. 10 Venezuela and No. 12 Mexico
The top four nations from each group surviving the Opening Round clash will advance to the quarterfinal knockout stage before the Premier12 shifts from Taiwan to Japan’s iconic Tokyo Dome for the semi-finals and finals.
Continuing the announcements, the first two contests that will kick off action at the 2015 Premier12 were unveiled.
In Group A, it will be Chinese Taipei and Netherlands, the 2011 Baseball World Cup champions, at Taichung’s Intercontinental Stadium on 9 November.
Helping to showcase the sport’s popularity and existing world-class venues in Japan as baseball/softball vie for a spot at the 2020 Olympic Games, there was a special announcement to reveal that the 40,000-seat Sapporo Dome has been added to the line-up and would host the Group B opener, which will feature top-ranked Japan and South Korea on 8 November.
Samurai Japan National Team manager Hiroki Kokubo has underlined Japan’s intention to capture the initial Premier12 trophy and will look to assemble a Japanese “Dream Team” that will make the entire country proud.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League — South Korea’s top sports league — was present for announcements Wednesday and “welcomed the challenge” of the opening battle against rival Japan, declaring the league’s support of the South Korean National Team in the Premier12.
WBSC President Fraccari commented:
“The Premier12 platform provides another key opportunity for players to represent, promote and honour their countries, and build on the wave of continued globalisation and excitement within our sport, particularly during this time when our sport is under Olympic observation for potential inclusion at the 2020 Games in Tokyo.”
Said In Sik Kim, KBO official and former manager of the South Korean National Team:
“KBO is proud and honoured to announce our involvement and support for this new elite international competition looking to 2020 and beyond. KBO leadership joins in sharing President Fraccari’s vision for the Premier12 to further establish and raise the attractiveness of National Team brands as part of a strategy to connect to new and global audiences, helping to drive awareness and growth in our sport around the world.”
The inaugural Premier12 is being co-hosted by Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) — the second highest-attended major sports league in the world in 2014 (approx. 23 million) — and the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association.
newfanzone 