The fourth World Baseball Classic will take place in the spring of 2017, which means the qualifying rounds for the tournament will start in 2016. Today, World Baseball Classic Inc. announced the four qualifying pools and the four venues for the modified double-elimination pool play.
The four host cities are:
- Blacktown International Sportspark in Sydney, Australia
- Estadio B Air in Mexicali, Mexico
- Rod Carew Stadium in Panama City, Panama
- MCU Park in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Panama City returns as a host of a qualifier from 2013 and Sydney, Mexicali and Brooklyn are all new, replacing New Taipei City, Taiwan; Regensburg, Germany; and Jupiter, FL.