Baseball Champions League opens new chapter in Europe

The Kane County Cougars of the American Association were crowned champions of the 2026 Baseball Champions League (BCL) defeating hosts Diablos Rojos of the Mexican Baseball League (LMB), 7-3, in the final at Alfredo Harp Helu Stadium in Mexico City last month.

Now in its second consecutive year as the curtain-raiser to the international baseball calendar, the BCL continues to build momentum — and is poised to reach an important new milestone with the launch of Baseball Champions League Europe in May.

Baseball Champions League Europe

European Cup competitions started in 1963 and have been contested under various formats since, but for the first time in the history of European baseball, the continent’s premier club competition will be played under the WBSC umbrella, marking a significant milestone in the continued development and global alignment of club baseball.

The new BCL Europe format provides clubs with enhanced international visibility, expanded commercial and marketing opportunities, and a clear pathway towards participation in a fully global Baseball Champions League structure.

"I believe there's a lot of potential in club competition in Europe," commented WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari, who served as the European Baseball Confederation (CEB) first Vice-President from 2005 to 2011 before becoming WBSC President in 2013. "The level of competition is very good and the long standing rivalries make it all the more exciting."

Regensburg (Germany) and Rotterdam (Netherlands) will host the First Round of the BCL Europe from 22 to 24 May.

Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the fourth-largest city in the State of Bavaria after Munich, Nuremberg and Augsburg.

Guggenberger Legionäre will host Draci Brno (Czechia), Parma Baseball 1949 (Italy) and Oosterhout Twins (Netherlands) at the Armin-Wolf Arena, a stadium with a capacity of over 3,000 and that hosted the 2009 Baseball World Cup, the 2014 Baseball European Championship and one of the qualifying tournaments for the 2013 and 2023 editions of the World Baseball Classic.

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands by population (608,495 in the city, 1,026,250 in the urban area) and the largest by area (319.4 square kilometres). It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the New Meuse inland shipping channel, dug to connect to the Meuse at first and now to the Rhine.

Neptunus Rotterdam will host Heidenheim Heideköpfe (Germany), Tenerife Marlins (Spain) and Nettuno Baseball 1945 (Italy) at Familiestadion (Family Stadium). Built in 1999 as "the most modern ballpark in the Netherlands," it has a regular capacity of 2,460, but it can expand to around 6,000. Familienstadion hosted the Baseball World Cup in 2005 and 2009, and most recently the Baseball European Championship 2025.

The Final Four is scheduled for September 26 and 27. The WBSC will award the hosting rights after the First Round.

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 BCL Americas in September 2023 in Merida (Yucatan). The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (American Association) defeated the hosts, Yucatan Leones, in the championship game to claim the trophy. The four-team event 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 Americas opens a new chapter in international baseball," commented LMB Executive President Horacio de la Vega when he introduced the event. "We foresee the day when we will honour a Champion of Champions, the winner of the global Champions League."

The 2026 BCL Europe will involve eight teams representing the top leagues in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Czechia and Spain. The competition format will see the eight teams split into two groups of four in the First Round, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the Final Four.

The LMB champions, Mexico City Diablos Rojos, hosted a six-team BCL Americas in April 2025 featuring the Kane County Cougars (American Association), Santa Maria Pirates (Curaçao Double-A League), Florida Titanes (Puerto Rico Superior Double-A League), Chinandenga Tigres (Nicaragua Pomares League) and Las Tunas Leñadores (Cuba's Serie Nacional). The Diablos Rojos defeated Las Tunas in the championship game to claim the trophy.

The 2026 Baseball Champions League introduced Asia to the project when the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) runner-up CTBC Brothers joined the five-team event.