The inaugural Baseball Champions League Europe will feature five participating leagues. Draci Brno will represent the Czech Extra Liga.
Draci will compete in Group Regensburg (Germany) alongside 1949 Parma Baseball (Italy), Oosterhout Twins (Netherlands), and the hosts, Guggenberger Legionaere.
Group Rotterdam (Netherlands) will include Heidenheim Heidekoepfe (Germany), Tenerife Marlins (Spain), Nettuno 1945 (Italy), and the hosts, Curaçao Neptunus Rotterdam.
The Group Stage will run from May 22 to 24. The top two finishers in each group will advance to the Final Four, scheduled for September 26 and 27. The WBSC will award the hosting rights after the Group Stage.
Read also
The Czech Extra Liga is a relatively young league. It was founded in 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia that led to the new States of Czechia (or Czech Republic) and Slovakia. Czechoslovakia had started its baseball league in 1979 under the supervision of Cuba.
The 2026 Extra Liga has eight participating teams: Arrow Ostrava, Cardion Hrosi Brno, Draci Brno, Eagles Prague, Kotlarka Prague, SaBaT Prague, Sokol Hluboka and Trebic Nuclears. Draci are the defending champions.
One of the most distinctive features of the Extraliga is Draci Brno’s dominance. In 2025, they won their 26th Extra Liga, and they are back at the top of the standings in the 2026 season.
After the 35-game regular season, the top four teams will advance to the best-of-five semifinal series. The winners will play for the pennant in the best-of-seven final series or Czech Series. The bottom four teams enter a relegation round to fight for their place in the Extraliga for the following season.
The Extra Liga is not a professional league.
“Most players have regular jobs or are students and play baseball at a semi-professional level,” confirmed Lukas Ercoli, a pitcher in the Extra Liga and the Czech Baseball Association Media Manager.
Czechia is the World’s No. 16 programme as per the latest WBSC Men’s Baseball World Ranking, the No. 3 in Europe after No. 10 Netherlands and No. 14 Italy. The majority of the players on the Czech National Team roster come from the Extraliga.
The Czech team’s participation in the World Baseball Classic 2023 and 2026 has brought a major boost to the league. Interest from fans, media, and partners has increased. More foreign players – mainly from USA, Latin America, and Japan – have started joining the league, further raising its quality.
The Czech Baseball Association’s official platform streams all the Extra Liga games live.
All media intending to cover the Baseball Champions League Europe need to register on the MyWBSC platform.
Cover photo by Lenka Brožová-CBA