# World Baseball Classic - The Brits **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [March 12, 2023, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-baseball-classic-the-brits/981053 "2023-03-12T02:29:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![19USMC69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ac91a4/32.png) [@19USMC69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/19USMC69)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-baseball-classic-the-brits/981053/1 "2023-03-12T02:29:12Z")
Anyone know the level of interest in the WBC in the UK? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-baseball-classic-the-brits/981053/2 "2023-03-12T09:10:45Z")
Never heard of it (and I’m pretty well acquainted with many UK sports). Can’t imagine there is much interest at all. Baseball is a very niche sport over here. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-baseball-classic-the-brits/981053/3 "2023-03-12T10:35:04Z")
I live in the UK and watch a lot of our sports coverage. One channel regularly covers American Football (I remember John Riggins scoring for Washington and ‘The Fridge’ for Chicago), but I have literally never seen any baseball on TV here. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-baseball-classic-the-brits/981053/4 "2023-03-12T14:32:55Z")
I lived in the UK from 2017 to 2022 and watched the playoffs and WS every year. It was included in a BT sports package that cost around 5 pounds extra per month. The American commercials weren’t included so there was just silence between innings. Blissful. They also carried regular season games on BT, but not all of them. A more than respectable showing by the GB team against USA yesterday. Of course, only 6 of the 37 players on the roster were born in the UK, so it’s a bit of a farce in that regard. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-baseball-classic-the-brits/981053/5 "2023-03-12T15:35:56Z")
I follow [BaseballBrit](https://twitter.com/baseballbrit?s=21&t=AiLHtA5Wigyk9pEvsLYPaA) on Twitter. He’s from the UK and is a big baseball fan. He occasionally posts links to MLB fan pages based out of the UK. I get the impression that the fandom is extremely niche, but pretty passionate. ---
**Author:** ![19USMC69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ac91a4/32.png) [@19USMC69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/19USMC69)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-baseball-classic-the-brits/981053/6 "2023-03-12T17:28:51Z")
The Brits played USA last night. While overmatched, they were quite respectable. However, and unlike the other teams in the WBC, their uniforms were dull. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-baseball-classic-the-brits/981053/7 "2023-03-12T17:50:17Z")
> [@19USMC69](#): > > However, and unlike the other teams in the WBC, their uniforms were dull. As described in this Reddit thread: “Great Britain’s WBC uniforms tonight look like they ordered them rush from VistaPrint.” [https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/11p2vpo/great\_britains\_wbc\_uniforms\_tonight\_look\_like/](https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/11p2vpo/great_britains_wbc_uniforms_tonight_look_like/) ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-baseball-classic-the-brits/981053/8 "2023-03-12T18:45:43Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > I lived in the UK from 2017 to 2022 and watched the playoffs and WS every year. It was included in a BT sports package that cost around 5 pounds extra per month. Ah, that explains it. I only watch the free UK channels. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-baseball-classic-the-brits/981053/9 "2023-03-13T16:20:29Z")
My WAG is that it probably compares with the US level of interest in cricket ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-baseball-classic-the-brits/981053/10 "2023-03-14T14:55:01Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > As described in this Reddit thread: “Great Britain’s WBC uniforms tonight look like they ordered them rush from VistaPrint.” Well as a seriously niche sport with zero funding, I’m not exactly surprised they have no money for branding. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-baseball-classic-the-brits/981053/11 "2023-03-14T14:58:43Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Well as a seriously niche sport with zero funding, I’m not exactly surprised they have no money for branding. True, though now I think they need to see about getting a refund from VistaPrint: > **[Pitcher Ian Gibaut hilariously lost the ‘T’ on his Great Britain jersey during...](https://ftw.usatoday.com/2023/03/great-britain-ian-gibaut-world-baseball-classic-t-letter-jersey)** > > Great Britain pitcher Ian Gibaut didn’t want to mess around with this loose letter. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-baseball-classic-the-brits/981053/12 "2023-03-14T15:27:40Z")
> [@19USMC69](#): > > The Brits played USA last night. While overmatched, they were quite respectable. Don’t pitch a dirt ball to them - they’ll hit it every time.