U-18 Baseball World Cup, scheduled for Bradenton-Sarasota, postponed by pandemic
The Under 18 Baseball World Cup, scheduled to be played Sept. 10-20 in Bradenton and Sarasota, has fallen victim to the resurgence of COVID-19, at least for this year.
The postponement, announced Thursday, July 29, was a blow to local hotel hosts and the Manatee County Tourist Development Council, which last October voted unanimously to recommend the Manatee County Commission budget $425,00 of tourist bed tax money to market the tourney.
The championships have not been played in the United States since 1995. The games were scheduled to be played at LECOM Park, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ spring training home in Bradenton and at Ed Smith Stadium, the Baltimore Orioles’ spring training home in Sarasota.
The projected economic impact of the games between teams from 12 countries was estimated at $6 million, Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said last year.
With 6,200 room nights anticipated, the championships would help push business to mainland innkeepers who suffered a greater loss of business than the island resorts.
The new dates for the event in 2022 will be announced at a later time. All tickets already purchased for the 2021 event will be refunded. Updated ticketing information will be provided when the rescheduled events are announced.
“As we continue to monitor the global COVID-19 pandemic, the World Baseball Softball Confederation, as well as our hosts and all concerned stakeholders, consider the rescheduling of the U-18 Baseball World Cup to 2022 to be the best and safest course of action,” WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari said in a statement. “While today’s decision is disappointing, it is taken with the safety of all participants in mind.”
Falcione said that the postponement has the full support of the Bradenton Area Sports Department.
“We look forward to continue working with USA Baseball to make the U-18 Baseball World Cup a great experience for the teams and visitors in 2022, and to introducing the international baseball community to the Bradenton-Sarasota area,” Falcione said.
Hospitals in the Bradenton-Sarasota area report an upswing in patients suffering from COVID-19, the vast majority of whom have not been vaccinated.
For more information about USA Baseball, visit USABaseball.com.
