Rumors floated around for a while, but today it became official. The European Champions Cup is no more. It will be replaced by the BECC (Baseball European Champions Cup). The biggest change is the countries that are represented.
For decades, champions (and runners up) from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands played for the title of European champion. But in the past years, it became more and more costly to play in this tournament. Last year, the Italian champions and runner up (San Marino and Fortitudo Bologna) withdrew and Italy was represented by Parmaclima. Apparently, the participation also became very costly for Dutch clubs. As a result, this new format will be played without the representatives of the aforementioned two countries.
The two participating countries will be Germany and the Czech Republic. Germany will be represented by champions Heidenheim Heideköpfe and German Cup winner Gugenberg Legionäre from Regensburg. The Czech Republic will be represented by champions Draci (Dragons) Brno and Eagles Praha (Prague).
The format will be as follows. The clubs will play each other on six dates. In September, the fop two finishers will play each other to become European champions. This format was proposed to be played with clubs from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, but the cost of the travel likely caused the withdrawal of the teams from France, Italy, and the Netherlands. All games will be played at the ballparks of the participating teams, rather than being played in one venue over the course of one week, like it was the case in the previous years.
With all due respect to the participating teams, but a “European” championship without participants from Italy and the Netherlands is a devaluated tournament. The fact that the WBSC Europe wants to move on with this format, even without clubs from Italy and the Netherlands, is proof the organization has lost connection with reality.
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