WBSC Workshops: eSport leading WBSC into the future
Delegates at the IV WBSC Congress in Taipei City, TPE were treated to workshops on six key WBSC subjects - Academy & Licensing Programmes, Marketing & Communication, MyWBSC Digital Suite, Governance & Integrity, Events and eSport - with the aim of providing National Federations with a briefing of the latest developments and know how.
Taking place on Sunday at the Marriot Hotel on the eve of the IV WBSC Congress, the workshops were headline by eSport with a briefing on the WBSC's eSport strategy, based on mobile gaming, new virtual events and a partnership with Konami to make baseball available to pro gamers. Delegates were also able to experience the Konami baseball games first hand with a virtual reality headshot available for the full immersive experience.
"Thank you Konami for joining us to showcase the exciting potential of e-gaming for our NFs and our sport," WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari said. "ESport is the future and a great way to reach and educate new audiences, which is why our eSport strategy is focused on capturing new opportunities and new audiences."
The WBSC eSport strategy is based on three pillars - eSport mobile, eSport virtual and eSport pro with eSport mobile featuring two mobile games - PlayBall for baseball and WBSC Softball, the first mobile softball game. The WBSC has also recently announced the inaugural Virtual Cup, which starts in September this year.
Meanwhile, the global calendar and the events portfolio was profiled in the Events Workshop. The WBSC currently runs seven softball events (three women's, three men's and one mixed), the flagship event Premier12, six men's youth Baseball World Cups, the Women's Baseball World Cup, and two Baseball5 World Cups as well as two Baseball5 World Cups while the WBSC Slow Pitch Softball World Cup was recently added. The workshop illustrated the difference between single-stage events, which run bi-annually, and two-stage events, which run on a four-year cycle - an innovation brought on following the pandemic.
The Development Programmes 2022-2024 offer a structure based on Olympic Solidarity Programmes and aim at covering the spectrum of needs of the WBSC members. Through these programmes, the WBSC contributes to the member's development. The online Academy has helped the WBSC launch a licensing programme for technical commissioners, coaches and game officials.
The workshop on governance and integrity reminded National Federations of their role in this area as well as what the WBSC has accomplished in the area of stakeholder interest. The WBSC recently received a very positive result in the most recent Governance Review by the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) where the WBSC was recognised as one of the most improved International Federations. The WBSC has also recently renewed its partnership with the International Testing Agency, committing to an independent, expert-led clean sports programme for its athletes.