CJ ENM announced on December 17 that it has secured the broadcasting rights for the '2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC)'.
The WBC is an international baseball tournament jointly organized by Major League Baseball (MLB), the MLB Players Association, and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Established in 2006, the tournament is held every four years and features top players from around the world. South Korea finished third in the 2006 tournament and was the runner-up in 2009.
The 2026 WBC will feature 20 participating countries and will take place from March 5 to March 17, 2026. The Korean national baseball team recently won a match against the Czech Republic and recorded one draw and one loss against Japan in the '2025 K-BASEBALL SERIES' evaluation games.
Before the main tournament, the national team will play official exhibition games against the Hanshin Tigers and Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball on March 2 and 3, 2026, as a final preparation.
All games of the 2026 WBC will be exclusively broadcast live in the digital sector by Tving, while TV broadcasts will be provided by the three major terrestrial broadcasters, their affiliated sports channels, and tvN SPORTS. Detailed programming plans are still under discussion.
CJ ENM has also secured the wired and wireless broadcasting rights for the KBO League from 2024 to 2026, as well as the broadcasting rights for Korea Football Association matches, the Roland-Garros tennis tournament, and tournaments organized by the Korean Basketball League, among others.
A CJ ENM representative stated, "By securing the broadcasting rights for the WBC, a global sports event, we are accelerating the expansion of our sports content portfolio," adding, "We will continue to provide competitive sports content that meets the needs of our viewers."
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