We're just a few months away from the onset of the fourth World Baseball Classic -- the once-every-four-years global tournament that began play in 2006.
Turns out, we could be just a few months away from the end of the World Baseball Classic in multiple senses. That's because the 2017 tournament could be the final edition of the WBC unless there's a significant uptick in revenue, according to Cristian Moreno of ESPN:
#Source: I've been told by multiple sources related to #WorldBaseballClassic the 2017 possibly final edition unless legit $$$ earnings come. pic.twitter.com/PlSXiANMi9
— Cristian Moreno/ESPN (@CristianMorenoD) November 28, 2016
This is sadly predictable. While the pretense of the WBC is twofold -- to spread the game of baseball and hand out bragging rights through a spirited tournament -- the bottom line is, well, the bottom line. Major League Baseball might be making insane profits, but it's not going to spend money just to spend money.
As such, fans of the WBC should savor the 2017 tournament as much as they can -- it just might be the last time we see a global baseball tournament for a while. Or, until the 2020 Olympics, anyway.
