SWITZERLAND – The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) today announced that Eurosport 2 has agreed to televise the championship game of the June 21 European Club Championship Final from Barcelona, Spain for the first time in the event’s history. The Champions Cup will be between the top four club teams in Europe: Fortitudo Bologna and Danesi Caffe’ Nettuno of Italy against L and D Amsterdam and Corendon Kinheim of the Netherlands.

The semi-finals will take place Saturday, June 20 and the finals and third place game on Sunday, June 21. Eurosport 2 will broadcast the final on a delayed basis on June 22 at 20:15, and repeat the broadcast on June 26 at 15:00 and June 27 at 13:45. Eurosport 2, the fastest growing TV channel in Europe, broadcasts to 35 million households in 11 languages across 46 countries.

“We are very pleased to have Eurosport 2 broadcast the finals of the European Cup from Barcelona, the city where baseball debuted on the Olympic programme in 1992,” said IBAF President Dr. Harvey Schiller. “The global interest in baseball, especially across Europe and in emerging nations, continues to grow exponentially as we move toward September’s World Cup and this agreement is further validation that the efforts the sport is making to grow are being recognized.”

Corendon Kinheim is one of the annual powers in Dutch baseball, having won four Dutch National Championships, including back to back in 2006 and 2007, and finishing second in 2008, while L&D Amesterdam won its third Dutch national title in 2008.

Fortitudo Bologna has won five Italian titles and is the defending club champion, while Danesi Caffe’ Nettuno is one of the oldest continuous club teams in all of Europe and is always among the best club teams on the continent.

The Champions Cup will serve as the first major European baseball event of the season, leading up to the World Cup. Barcelona, the city where baseball debuted as an Olympic medal sport in 1992, will also play host to games between Spain, South Africa, Puerto Rico, and Cuba during the first round from 10-12 September.

Other first round games will be held in Regensburg, Germany; Moscow; Prague; and Stockholm from September 9-12.

The second round will be split between Italy and the Netherlands, while the final round will be in Italy on September 27. In total, 22 nations will compete for the coveted world championship. Television plans for the World Cup will be announced shortly.

About the International Baseball Federation (IBAF)
Founded in 1938, the International Baseball Federation is a non-governmental organisation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as administering men’s and women’s baseball at the world level. Located in Lausanne, Switzerland – the Olympic Capital – and counting 125 National Member Federations, the IBAF organises the IBAF Men’s and Women’s Baseball World Cup, the AAA (18U) and AA (16U) World Championships, the Olympic Games Baseball Tournament, and it sanctions the World Baseball Classic, among other international baseball tournaments. The IBAF works to develop and grow the game of baseball around the world. For more information, please visit www.ibaf.org.

Photo courtesy of Ferrini/Fibs

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