WBSC opens new Baseball Champions League era

The Baseball Champions League (BCL) will enter a new era after the Mexican Baseball League (LMB) and the hosts, the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, introduced the Baseball Champions League 2026, a six-team tournament featuring teams from six leagues in the Americas and Asia, at a press conference at LMB headquarters in Mexico City on Tuesday.

The hosts, Diablos Rojos, will represent the LMB with the Kane County Cougars, based in Geneva, (IL) USA, representing the American Association of Professional Baseball.

The CTBC Brothers will represent the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL), while Dantos de Managua will represent the German Pomares League from Nicaragua. The other leagues participating in this third edition of the Baseball Champions League are the Venezuelan Liga Mayor de Béisbol Profesional, and Cuba's Series Nacional (currently in the quarterfinals of the 2025-26 campaign). The teams from Venezuelan and Cuba will be confirmed at a later date.

“As you can see, once again we have representatives from the USA, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. This time, we took it a step further and decided to invite the CTBC Brothers from the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL),” said BCL Commissioner Guillermo Ramírez. “I would like to thank the Brothers for being part of the BCL. It is not easy to make the trip from Taiwan to Mexico to compete in this event. I am confident that we are going to deliver the best international club baseball tournament in the world.”

"This is the second edition of the BCL, which is growing and growing every year,” said Horacio de la Vega, President of the Mexican Softball League. "This year's competition will spark a lot of conversation, especially regarding the competitiveness of the teams. This tournament is becoming increasingly important in international baseball".

The Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium in Mexico City will host the event from March 24 to 29. The six participating teams will split into two groups, with the first-place finishers advancing to the semifinals and the second and third-place finishers playing a one-game playoff for the other two spots.

• Group 1: Diablos de México (LMB), Kane County Cougars (American Association), and the champion of the Liga Mayor de Béisbol Profesional (VEN).
• Group 2: Champion of the Serie Nacional de Cuba (CUB), CTBC Brothers (CPBL, TPE), and Dantos de Managua (Liga Pomares, NCA).

Group 2 games will be played at 10:00 a.m. local time to accommodate audiences in Taiwan, while Group 1 games will begin at 7:00 p.m. The Baseball Champions League Final will take place on Sunday, 29 March, at 2:00 p.m. Ticket sale details will be announced by the Local Organising Committee on 16 February.

Baseball Champions League history

WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari launched the BCL in 2023 as a "new concept for baseball, it's an international tournament of champions with teams around the world representing their club, their city and their fans on the world stage."

The LMB hosted the first test event, named BCL Americas, in late September 2023. The four-team event, which was won by the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (USA), served as a model for what the WBSC planned for other continents and leagues in the future as part of a global Baseball Champions League.

"The Champions League America opens a new chapter in international baseball," commented LMB Executive President Horacio de la Vega when he introduced the test event. "We foresee the day when we will honour a Champion of Champions, the winner of the global Champions League."

LMB and the Mexico City Diablos Rojos hosted the BCL Americas 2025. a six-team tournament featuring hosts and eventual winners Diablos Rojos (LMB) as well as champion clubs from Cuba (Serie Nacional), Curaçao (AA League), Nicaragua (German Pomares League), Puerto Rico (Superior Double-A League), and the USA (American Association of Professional Baseball).