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Mexico and the United States were the overwhelming favorites to advance from Pool B at the World Baseball Classic. However, Italy pulled off an upset that made its showdown with that first team a surprisingly consequential one, and viewers won’t have to turn to the streaming service where it was supposed to exclusively air after the stakes were raised.
Team USA headed to the 2026 World Baseball Classic as the odds-on favorite to win the entire tournament thanks to a stacked roster that featured aces including Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal and a lineup that boasted sluggers like Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber, and Cal Raleigh.
The guys representing the stars and stripes were one of the five teams that made the trek to Houston for Pool B play to determine which two teams would advance to the knockout stage. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that the United States and Mexico would end up on top when you consider they shared a group with Italy, Brazil, and the United Kingdom, but that is no longer the case.
America was 3-0 when it entered its showdown with Italy on Tuesday, but the latter pulled off a wild 8-6 upset as a +700 underdog while taking advantage of the less-than-stellar (and possibly hungover) lineup Team USA manager Mark DeRosa assembled after he was seemingly led to believe his squad had already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals.
That means Wednesday night’s game between Italy and Mexico has some huge implications, and there have been some changes on the broadcast front as a result.
The Italy-Mexico game at the WBC was moved from Tubi to FS1 after it suddenly mattered
Fox has the television rights to the 2026 World Baseball Classic, and it’s attempted to use the competition to drum up some hype for Tubi, the streaming service that it’s owned since 2020.
The ad-supported platform tends to be a bit of an afterthought compared to heavy hitters like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and HBO Max. Its parent company opted to harness the WBC to drive viewers to it by having it serve as the exclusive home for a handful of games during pool play.
As you can probably guess, the powers that be selected contests that seemed like they’d be a bit of an afterthought in the grand scheme of things.
It was fairly reasonable to assume that was going to be the case with the showdown between Italy and Mexico, but that changed after the United States gave up the right to control its fate.
USA scenario
USA Advances if either:
– Italy wins
– Mexico beats Italy by scoring 5+ runsUSA Eliminated if:
– Mexico beats Italy by scoring 4 or fewer runsTiebreaker if Mexico wins, scores exactly 5:
11 runs allowed for Italy, USA
Italy will have had 1-3 fewer fielding outs— Tangotiger 🍁 (@tangotiger) March 11, 2026
Tubi actually wouldn’t have been the worst option for most fans when you consider it’s free to watch, but you’ll now need a cable subscription if you want to legally tune into the pivotal game after it was moved to FS1.
Italy-Mexico will be on FS1 instead of Tubi
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) March 11, 2026
That contest is slated to kick off at 7 P.M. ET and will replace the one between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, which has will now air on Tubi.