{"id":31987,"date":"2018-02-01T10:22:33","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T18:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=31987"},"modified":"2018-02-01T10:59:41","modified_gmt":"2018-02-01T18:59:41","slug":"wbsc-to-launch-new-softball-world-cup-flagship-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=31987","title":{"rendered":"WBSC to launch new \u2018Softball World Cup\u2019 flagship brand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note: Some of the biggest news in the fastpitch world in some time.\u00a0 New name, new brand, new dates. Read all about it below.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

From the WBSC (World Baseball Softball Confederation)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Click logo for official WBSC press release<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ROME, Italy \u2013 The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today announced the launch of the Softball World Cup flagship brand.<\/p>\n

The new Softball World Cup brand identity and tournament system will replace the current Softball World Championships across all categories: Men\u2019s, Women\u2019s, U-19 Men\u2019s and U-19 Women\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The major restructuring of softball\u2019s pinnacle international competitions was decided at the WBSC Softball Division Board meeting in Rome, Italy, hosted in the headquarters of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis new Softball World Cup brand and tournament structure \u2014 with continental qualifiers \u2014 will be an exciting showcase of the best softball athletes and countries in the world,\u201d said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. \u201cThe new Softball World Cups will boost our long-term Olympic potential and help our mission to grow a one-billion global baseball\/softball community over the next decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

WBSC Softball Division Chairman Tommy Velazquez said: \u201cThe Softball World Cup platform will be positioned to realise maximum global broadcast, commercial and audience growth \u2013 providing increased prestige, visibility and attraction to the sport and the elite athletes who dedicate their lives practicing it. This Softball World Cup system with qualifiers will also raise the value and marketability of our Continental Associations and their competitions.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the new brand identity and restructuring, the new Softball World Cups will be played every two years and feature:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • 16-team tournament formats for Men\u2019s, Women\u2019s and U-19 Women\u2019s categories, discontinuing the previous open format across all categories<\/li>\n
  • 12-team tournament format for U-19 Men\u2019s<\/li>\n
  • Continental Qualifiers:\n
      \n
    • Representatives by Continent (16-team Softball World Cup)\n
        \n
      • Africa \u2013 2<\/li>\n
      • Americas -5<\/li>\n
      • Asia \u2013 3<\/li>\n
      • Europe \u2013 3<\/li>\n
      • Oceania \u2013 2<\/li>\n
      • Wild Card \u2013 1<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
      • Representatives by Continent (12-team Softball World Cup)\n
          \n
        • Africa \u2013 1<\/li>\n
        • Americas -4<\/li>\n
        • Asia \u2013 2<\/li>\n
        • Europe \u2013 2<\/li>\n
        • Oceania \u2013 2<\/li>\n
        • Wild Card \u2013 1<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
        • \u201cJunior\u201d category renamed \u201cU-19\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Calendar adjustments for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

          The final edition of the Women\u2019s Softball World Championship will take place this year in Chiba, Japan. The Women\u2019s Softball World Cup will then launch in 2021 and be played in the year before and after the Summer Olympic Games (i.e., 2021, 2023, etc.).<\/p>\n

          The next edition of the U-19 Women\u2019s category will continue as previously planned in 2019, before shifting to even years in 2020 to be staged in the year prior to and after the Women\u2019s Softball World Cup (i.e., 2020, 2022, etc.).<\/p>\n

          The final edition of the Junior Men\u2019s Softball World Championship will be held this year in Prince Albert, SK, Canada. The U-19 Men\u2019s Softball World Cup will then launch in 2021 and be played every two years (i.e., 2021, 2023, etc.).<\/p>\n

          The next two editions of the Men\u2019s category will be played in 2019 and 2021, before shifting to even years starting in 2022 (i.e., 2022, 2024, 2026, etc.).<\/p>\n

          Editor’s note: Recap on dates:<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Men:\u00a0 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024<\/p>\n

          Women: 2018, 2021, 2023<\/p>\n

          U-19 Men* (formerly Jr. Men) : 2018, 2021, 2023<\/p>\n

          U-19 Women* (formerly Jr. Women) : 2019, 2020, 2022<\/p>\n

          *As noted, above, the “Junior” divisions have been renamed “U-19)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

          <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Editor’s note: Some of the biggest news in the fastpitch world in some time.\u00a0 New name, new brand, new dates. Read all about it below.\u00a0 From the WBSC (World Baseball Softball Confederation) ROME, Italy \u2013 The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today announced the launch of the Softball World Cup flagship brand. The new Softball […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,82],"tags":[862,73,562],"class_list":{"0":"post-31987","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"category-wbsc","9":"tag-softballworldcup","10":"tag-wbsc","11":"tag-wbscsoftball","12":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31987"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31991,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31987\/revisions\/31991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}