Tonight, the United States and Venezuela face off in the finals of the 2026 World Baseball Classic. And chances are, a lot of you will be watching. Based only on pool play, this year’s WBC viewership is up 142% from the 2023 tournament. 35,000 people have bought tickets to tonight’s final and over 100 million Japanese fans tuned in to watch Shohei Ohtani. Aaron Judge called the crowd at the U.S.-Mexico game on March 10th, “bigger and better than the World Series.”

In this special episode of The Deal, Alex Rodriguez shares his reaction to the phenomenon that is the 2026 World Baseball Classic with his co-host Jason Kelly. Rodriguez talks about the national pride his fellow Dominicans felt over the past few weeks and explains why MLB commissioner Rob Manfred needs to capitalize on this momentum leading into what Rodriguez calls “the most important season in the history of the sport.”