The event will be first staged in November 2015 in Taiwan and feature the world's top 12 ranked nations.

It will be held every four years and will become baseball's highest-ranked international competition, with the champions awarded baseball's largest prize of world ranking bonus points.

The WBSC is currently conducting a full review of baseball's world rankings system to optimise the system's fairness and transparency and to reflect the Premier12's position atop WBSC's international baseball tournaments structure as the most heavily weighted competition.

Changes to the rankings system will only be implemented after the 2015 Premier12 teams have been announced at the end of the year, in order not to interfere with the current four-year rankings cycle, which runs from 2011-2014.

The WBSC has guaranteed a multi-million dollar prize pool among all National Teams/National Federations participating in The Premier12, while also offering to cover the National Federation's costs, including air travel and accommodation.

"The WBSC is thrilled to announce the groundbreaking addition of The Premier12 to WBSC's tournaments-structure," said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari.

"The Premier12 will unite baseball's top nations and give baseball's best players in the world the opportunity - and the highest honour - to play for their countries on a global stage.

"The Premier12 will be a worldwide spectacle that generates huge media numbers and will not only be very exciting but also very rewarding for the players, the National Federations, the fans and for our partners, who have all driven demand for this new event."

Premier12 will give National Teams the opportunity to participate in a top global tournament with champions awarded baseball's largest prize of world ranking bonus points ©WBSC



The inaugural competition in 2015 has been scheduled for November in order to avoid any clashes with National Federations' domestic seasons, allowing the world's most elite sportsmen to represent their nations over the 10 to 12 day competition.

The timing also ensures the competition will take place at a time when Taiwan's climate is favourable to athletes and fans alike, avoiding a scenario like that seen ahead of the FIFA World Cup in 2022.

Qualified teams for the Premier12 event will be confirmed in November after the final world rankings have been calculated.

As it stands, the top 12 ranked countries in the world are the Unites States at number one, followed by Japan, Cuba, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Dominican Republic, The Netherlands, Canada, Korea, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Italy and Mexico.

Baseball's world ranking system is unique in a sense as it takes into account a country's national baseball programme, rather than just a single team.

This means that ranking points are taken from competitions ranging from under-12 level to professional, promoting participation across all groups.

With the Premier12 event including just the top 12 teams from around the world, it is hoped this will therefore provide a boost to National Federations and give them an incentive to perform well at all levels of competition.

It also means the tournament will provide the "best of the best" in terms of competition, "positioning the Premier12 to generate maximum interest from players, National Federations, spectators, media, sponsors and broadcasters".

The top 12 ranked teams in the world, of the 141 WSBC members, will qualify for the new event with the final selection set to be made in November when the 2014 world rankings have been finalised ©WBSC

The announcement of this new competition comes at a time when baseball is looking to show the International Olympic Committee (IOC) its value across the world in its continued drive to be included in the Olympic Games.

After missing out on a place on the Olympic programme for Tokyo 2020 in the IOC vote in September of last year in Buenos Aires, Argentina, rumours have surfaced of a potential for baseball to feature at these Games after IOC President Thomas Bach's trip to Japan last year.

During the visit, Bach told reporters he was "open to more flexibility in the programme for the Olympic Games" as calls began to surface for baseball's reintroduction into the Games.

This Premier12 event will only increase these calls as the WBSC looks to showcase the popularity and commercial success of baseball, while offering national teams another avenue to participate in the sport on a global level.

"The Premier12 underlines WBSC's commitment to further globalise and brand our National Team events," added President Fraccari.

"And the commercial and broadcast power of The Premier12 is a concrete example that clearly demonstrates the assets WBSC, our National Federations and our stakeholders can deliver to the Olympic Games."

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