Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Baseball & Softball
Official Hospitality

Venue: Yokahama Baseball Stadium

Dates: 22 July 2020 – 28 August 2020

A sport loved by people of all ages the world over rejoins the Olympic programme for the first time since the Beijing 2008 Games.

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Overview

Softball is thought to have begun in the USA as an indoor version of baseball, so the latter could continue to be played during the off-season. The rules of both sports are very similar in terms of gameplay, with two teams of nine players seeking to score the most ‘runs’ by striking a ball and running round a sequence of bases to reach home. The teams alternate between batting and fielding, each session of which is called an ‘inning’, switching roles when the fielding team gets three opposing players out.

The team with the most runs after nine innings of alternate batting and fielding wins. If the teams are tied after seven innings, the game goes into a tie-breaker with adapted rules to accelerate scoring and provide a quick finish.

Softball was introduced as an Olympic medal sport for women only at Atlanta 1996. The sport was contested until 2008, then removed from the programme.

An invitation by the International Olympic Committee for the host country to propose the temporary inclusion of additional events saw the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee propose both women’s softball and men’s baseball.

The competition will be run by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC)(Open in a new window), the world governing body established in 2013 by the merger of the International Softball Federation and the International Baseball Federation.

Hospitality Packages

Event Programme

Click on the arrows to see the event disciplines and session times. Session times indicate the event, as opposed to hospitality, start time.

Venue: Yokahama Baseball Stadium

Dates: 29 July 2020 – 08 August 2020

Last contested at Beijing 2008, baseball and its sister sport softball have been reinstated to the Olympic programme and will form part of the Tokyo 2020 Games.

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Overview

In baseball, two teams of nine players seek to score the most ‘runs’ by striking a ball and running round a sequence of bases to reach the ‘home plate’. The teams alternate between batting and fielding, each session of which is called an ‘inning’, switching roles when the fielding team gets three opposing players out.

The fielding team consists of a pitcher, catcher, four infielders and three outfielders. The pitcher throws the ball from a raised mound to the opposing batter standing on the home plate 18.4 metres away. The batter attempts to hit the pitches while the fielders try to get the batter out through various plays.

The team with the most runs after nine innings of alternate batting and fielding wins. If the teams are tied after nine innings, play continues into extra innings until one team has scored more than the other in an equal number of turns at bat.

Baseball was played as a ‘demonstration sport’ at a number of editions of the Games before being adopted as a medal sport at Barcelona 1992. The sport was contested until Beijing 2008, then removed from the programme.

Given the popularity of baseball in Japan, an invitation by the International Olympic Committee for the host country to propose the temporary inclusion of additional events saw the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee propose both men’s baseball and women’s softball.

Hospitality Packages

Event Programme

Click on the arrows to see the event disciplines and session times. Session times indicate the event, as opposed to hospitality, start time.

*Please refer to the tournament table for details on tournament structure including the knockout stage.