Houston will be one of four host cities for the World Baseball Classic when the international tournament is next played in 2026, Major League Baseball announced on Thursday.
Minute Maid Park will host group stage games and a quarterfinal round, MLB announced. Miami, Tokyo and San Juan, Puerto Rico, will also host group stage games. Miami will host the other quarterfinal, the semifinals and the final at Loan Depot Park, home of the Marlins.
The tournament is scheduled for March 2026. Houston will be a WBC host city for the first time. This will be the sixth iteration of the WBC, which was introduced in 2006.
“We are excited and honored to be hosting World Baseball Classic matchups for the first time,” Astros owner Jim Crane said in a statement. “Houston is a global city with the best baseball fans, and we are proud to welcome fans from across the globe to watch international competition at Minute Maid Park.”
See here for the background. I’m definitely going to want to get some tickets. Sports-wise, at least, 2026 is shaping up to be a great year for Houston, with this and the FIFA World Cup coming. I’m looking forward to it. CultureMap has more.
How much did the taxpayers/HCHSA/Visit Houston/HCCSC/Houston First bid for this “prize”?
Fear not, Bill – the taxpayers will just add it to the moneys owed to HFD.
I don’t think Houston First went all the way to the Texas Supreme Court, C.L., but maybe they should.
@David… Why would Houston First (that’s been around since 2011) have a case in front of SCOTX in the first place, if all they may have been involved in was bidding to host some baseball games ? That makes no sense.