The 2023 World Baseball Classic Championship game came down to a movie script finale: Japan’s Shohei Ohtani versus USA’s Mike Trout. Facing off with two outs in the ninth inning, the two superstars, then teammates on the Los Angeles Angels, represented the highest level of baseball in their respective countries. 

On a two-strike count, Ohtani unleashed a devastating slider that left one of the greatest hitters of his generation swinging at air. As that pitch hit the catcher’s mitt, a staggering 65 million viewers worldwide were tuned in, including 55 million from Japan and five million from the United States, a stark contrast to the first-ever World Baseball Classic tournament in 2006, which garnered only 10 million viewers total for its championship game. 

So what has contributed to the booming of this worldwide baseball tournament, and how has it grown into arguably the largest baseball event in the history of the game?

Twenty years ago, the debut of the WBC tournament was labeled an “experiment,” and neither the teams nor the fans treated it with much urgency. At the time, it felt like a series of low-stakes exhibition games, as only two million Americans and 10 million fans worldwide tuned in for the 2006 finale. The lack of buzz was visible in the stands too, where games drew an underwhelming average of only 19,000 fans. 

Since then, this experiment has evolved into one of the largest baseball events in the history of the sport. The competition has expanded from 16 to 20 countries, viewership has increased nearly tenfold and attendance records are being shattered with every new tournament. During the 2023 tournament, the total attendance between all the games was 1.3 million, a record-breaking 20% increase from 2017.

Much of this spark comes down to a shift in who is playing on the field. As recently as a decade ago, Major League Baseball teams viewed the World Baseball Classic as a meaningless, dangerous distraction, and MLB teams even went so far as to restrict their stars from participating to avoid the risk of injury. 

In recent years, that script has been flipped, as players are not only participating but advocating to play. Driven by a sense of national pride, players now describe wearing their country’s colors as much more surreal than any professional uniform. This commitment from the players has transformed the environment, with the atmosphere in the dugout and the stands now more intense and passionate than any traditional MLB game. With the world’s best players bought in, the fans have followed suit in record numbers.

With its rise in popularity in the last few years, the 2026 WBC is projected to be the largest baseball event in history. The initial 16-team experiment has expanded into a large-scale, 20-team tournament, with record-shattering viewership and an intensity and passion that a long, traditional MLB season cannot replicate.

For the first time ever, that global spotlight is shifting directly to Houston. This March, Daikin Park will make its debut as a WBC host site, serving as the home stadium for Pool B, which includes mega-teams such as the United States and Mexico and superstar players such as Aaron Judge, Paul Skenes and Cal Raleigh for Team USA. The selection is a massive milestone for the city; while Houston has hosted Super Bowls and World Series games, it has never seen an international explosion of this scale. 

Houston will also host the Quarterfinals in mid-March, ensuring that the road to the championship runs through Texas. The narrative for the WBC has shifted for good, as the World Baseball Classic is no longer a meaningless exhibition tournament – it is the pinnacle of baseball.