West News Wire: The World Baseball Classic will be broadcast on Fox and its affiliated networks in 2019, thanks to the network’s acquisition of the U.S. English and Spanish language rights to the event.
The American team’s March 11 opening against Great Britain will be televised on the main Fox network, Fox announced on Friday. The competition begins March 8 in Taiwan, which is March 7 in the United States, and the championship will be broadcast on FS1 and Fox Deportes on March 21.
Some of the 47 games in the tournament will also be available on FS2, Tubi, and the Fox Sports app.
The U.S. English-language rights to the 2013 and 2017 tournaments were held by MLB Network, and the U.S. Spanish-language rights were held by ESPN Deportes.
2.3 million viewers watched the United States’ 8-0 victory in the 2017 championship game on MLB Network, and another 800,000 viewers saw it on ESPN Deportes and a Spanish-language simulcast on ESPN2.
