The World Baseball Softball Confederation has said broadcast and online rights agreements covering 84 countries and territories have been reached for the upcoming Women’s Softball World Championship.
Serving as a qualifying event for Tokyo’s 2020 summer Olympic Games, the Championship is set to open in Chiba, Japan on Thursday.
In Japan, WBSC has awarded terrestrial broadcaster TV Tokyo the exclusive host broadcasting rights, online/mobile and broadcast rights to the event.
In Europe, sports and betting-related services company Sportradar has been awarded live-streaming rights across 42 territories and will provide blanket coverage via its OTT platform at www.baseballsoftball.tv.
Sports-streaming service FloSports has secured the exclusive English live-streaming rights in Canada and the United States.
Mexican media company AYM Sports has acquired rights in 41 countries and territories and will offer Spanish-language coverage across North, South and Central America, as well as the Caribbean.
All games will be live-streamed and provided free-to-view on the WBSC YouTube channel for territories not covered by broadcast and live-stream partners.
WBSC president Riccardo Fraccari said: “These agreements will guarantee record coverage and engagement for the Women’s Softball World Championship in Chiba, driving the exposure and excitement of our sport to millions of households and mobile users across the world, while further building the anticipation of baseball and softball’s historic return at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.”