World Baseball Classic, Inc. (WBCI) today announced the broadcast schedule for the Sydney, Australia Qualifier, which will be played February 11th-14th at Blacktown International Sportspark. The winner of the Qualifier, which features Australia, New Zealand, Philippines and South Africa, will advance to compete in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, the fourth installment of the premier international baseball tournament featuring many of the world's greatest players.
Fans in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico will be able to watch the Final of the Qualifier on MLB Network live at 10:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 14th as well as three additional games, including the first game of the host team Australia.
In addition, all six games will be available live and on-demand at no charge on WorldBaseballClassic.com for fans in the United States and Puerto Rico. Gameday pitch tracking will allow fans around the world to follow every pitch and see up-to-the moment stats and have access to complete coverage including video highlights and select pre- and post-game press conferences.
ESPN Pac-Rim, a long-standing partner of MLB International, will carry each game either live or on delay for fans in Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, New Zealand, Palau, Western Samoa and Tahiti. The games will also appear on Solar Sports in the Philippines. Following is the complete broadcast information for the Sydney Qualifier.
QUALIFIER 1: Sydney, Australia
    
Thu, Feb 11
1:00pm/9:00pm ET
South Africa vs. New Zealand
ESPN Pac-Rim: Live

Thu, Feb 11
7:30pm/3:30am ET
Philippines vs. Australia
MLB Network: Live
ESPN Pac-Rim: Live

Fri, Feb 12
1:00pm/9:00pm ET
Philippines vs. TBD
ESPN Pac-Rim: Live

Fri, Feb 12
7:30pm/3:30am ET
Australia vs. TBD
MLB Network: Live
ESPN Pac-Rim: Live

Sat, Feb 13
    
6:30pm/2:30am ET
TBD vs. TBD
MLB Network: Live
ESPN Pac-Rim: Delay to 12:30pm on Feb 14

Sun, Feb 14
2:00pm/10:00pmET   
Finalist 2 vs. Finalist 1
MLB Network: Live
ESPN Pac-Rim: Delay to 11:00pm

Following the Sydney Qualifier, additional Qualifiers will be held at Estadio B Air in Mexicali, Mexico on March 17th-20th (Mexico, Czech Republic, Germany, Nicaragua); Rod Carew Stadium in Panama City, Panama on March 17th-20th (Colombia, France, Panama, Spain); and MCU Park in Brooklyn, New York on September 22nd-25th (Brazil, Great Britain, Israel, Pakistan).
The Qualifiers will feature a six-game, modified double-elimination format. The composition of the pools was determined after venues were selected, with consideration given to competitive balance, existing rivalries and each national team's geographic location.
The winners from each Qualifier will advance to the World Baseball Classic tournament, scheduled for March 2017. Those four teams will join the 12 countries - Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, United States and Venezuela - that received automatic invitations based on their performance in the 2013 tournament. MLB Network will be the exclusive English-language home of the 2017 World Baseball Classic in the United States.
The Qualifiers were originally introduced prior to the 2013 World Baseball Classic, when Qualifiers were held in Panama City; Regensburg, Germany; Jupiter, Florida; and Taipei, Taiwan during the fall of 2012. The inaugural World Baseball Classic was held in 2006 prior to ensuing editions in 2009 and 2013.

About World Baseball Classic, Inc.
World Baseball Classic, Inc. (WBCI) is a company created at the direction of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) to operate the World Baseball Classic tournament. The tournament, which is sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), is supported by MLB, the MLBPA, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), their respective players associations and other leagues and players from around the world.
About the World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic is the premier international baseball tournament, sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), as the sport's official National Team World Championship, and features the best players in the world competing for their home countries and territories. More than 2.4 million fans from all over the world have attended the tournament games, held in March 2006, March 2009 and March 2013. Team Dominican Republic is the reigning World Baseball Classic Champion after going undefeated during its 2013 championship run. The upcoming World Baseball Classic will be played in March 2017 and will again feature the greatest baseball-playing nations in the world. The tournament will be held every four years thereafter. MLB Network will be the exclusive English-language home of the 2017 World Baseball Classic in the United States.
About the World Baseball Softball Confederation
The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the global governing body for the sports of baseball and softball resulting from the merger of the International Baseball Federation and International Softball Federation in 2013. WBSC governs all international competitions, including Premier12, World Baseball Classic and the Baseball World Cups, which involve any of the National Teams of its 208 National Federation members in 141 countries and territories worldwide. For more information, visit www.wbsc.org.