The next five venues for the Caribbean Series confirmed

The 66th edition of the Caribbean Series held at LoanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins, closed with a flourish as Venezuela’s Tiburones de La Guaira were crowned champions for the first time after beating the most successful team in the series’ history, the Dominican Republic’s Tigres del Licey 3-0 in the 2024 final.

Panama’s Federales de Chiriquí wound up in third place after a Cinderella run in the tournament, beating the Curacao Suns 5-4.

The 2024 Caribbean Series final saw the attendance record broken as 36,677 fans filled the stands. That is more even than the final of 2023′s World Baseball Classic between the United States and Japan which itself had set a record with 36,098 fans in the same venue.

After the blinding success of this year’s tournament, the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (CBPC) has revealed the next five venues, which are as follows:

1. 2025 | Mexico (Mexicali)
2. 2026 | Puerto Rico
3. 2027 | Mexico (Hermosillo)
4. 2028 | Dominican Republic
5. 2029 | Venezuela

There are a couple of issues that will be very much front and center as these next five years play out. First, of course is whether or not the competition can repeat it’s success, both in terms of audience as well as crucially financially.

The Marlins have made no secret of the fact that they are very pleased with both of those and would be open to hosting again. There are other Latino-heavy markets in the US, namely California, Arizona, and Texas, who would also like to throw their hat into the ring for hosting honors.

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It is a huge question mark over the venues in the Caribbean countries to see if they can draw diverse crowds in the same way.

Another burning issue that will only grow with time is the attendance, or non-attendance in this year’s case, of Colombia. It is impossible to imagine a truly pan-Caribbean baseball tournament without one of the top leagues being represented. The CBPC will have to find a solution for the inclusion of Colombia in future tournaments if they are to have any meaning.