Konami Sponsors 2026 World Baseball Classic, Expanding Baseball Presence

Japanese video game developer Konami has signed on as a global sponsor for the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), marking a continuation of its partnership with the tournament. Konami previously sponsored the 2023 edition of the WBC.

Tournament Details

The 2026 WBC will feature 20 teams competing across four first-round pools in Tokyo, Japan. San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the U.S. Cities of Houston and Miami. The tournament is scheduled to begin on March 4th and conclude with the final game at LoanDepot Park in Miami on March 17th.

About the World Baseball Classic

The World Baseball Classic is owned by World Baseball Classic Inc., a subsidiary of Major League Baseball (MLB), and operated in conjunction with the MLB Players Association. The tournament mirrors the format of the FIFA World Cup, with national teams competing against each other.

The inaugural WBC was held in 2006, and the 2023 tournament was won by Team Japan, led by Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Konami’s Broader MLB Partnership

This sponsorship builds upon Konami’s existing global marketing partnership with MLB, established last year. The partnership centers around Konami’s free-to-play mobile game, eBaseball: MLB Pro Spirit, and features a collaboration with Shohei Ohtani as an ambassador.

Konami has a long history of developing baseball games for the Japanese market, including Powerful Pro Baseball 2024-25 and Professional Baseball Spirits 2024-25.

Broadcast Rights

Organizers have secured broadcast partners for the 2026 WBC in key baseball markets. Recent agreements include:

• Sportdigital (Germany): Will air 40 matches on its streaming service.
• Tving (South Korea): Will broadcast all 47 matches live.
• Fox (United States): Holds U.S. Rights to all 47 games, with coverage across Fox, FS1, FS2, the Fox Sports app, Fox One, and Tubi. Fox Deportes will broadcast 28 games in Spanish.
• Netflix (Japan): Will exclusively air all matches, marking Netflix’s first live sports event in Japan.
• TNT Sports (UK): Will provide coverage, building on its coverage of the previous edition.

Additional broadcasters include Astro (Malaysia), SpoTV (Southeast Asia), Sportsnet (Canada), TelevisaUnivision (Mexico), ESPN (Netherlands), BeIN Sport (France, MENA), Sky Italia (Italy), Sport1 (Hungary), S Sport Plus (Turkey), and ESPN (Sub-Saharan Africa).