When the medals are awarded at the 2027 WBSC Premier12, they'll be handed out under the familiar white roof of the Tokyo Dome.

The WBSC announced on Monday the format for the 2027 event, which will have 16 teams play in four groups, with the top two teams from each group advancing to a second group stage. The top two teams in each second stage group will advance to the super round, which will again be held at the Tokyo Dome.

The Taipei Dome in Taipei City, Taiwan, will host a first stage group and a second stage group, while the other three group play sites have yet to be determined.

Group play will begin in Taiwan on Nov. 8, 2027, and the second phase of group play is expected to conclude at the Taipei Dome on Nov. 15, 2027.

The top two teams from each second round group will advance to the Super Round at the Tokyo Dome, where they will face each other once in a round-robin format. The final standings will determine the matchups for the medal round, with the top two teams competing for the Premier12 title and the third- and fourth-place finishers playing for the bronze medal. The Super Round games will begin on Nov. 18, 2027 at the Tokyo Dome, with the medal round games scheduled for Nov. 21, 2027.

Dates and venues for the other three groups, two in the first round and the other second round group, have yet to be announced by the WBSC.

The 2024 WBSC Premier12 group play round had two groups of six teams, one of which was played at Estadio Panamericano in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico, and the Coloso del Pacifico in Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico. The other group split its games between the Vantelin Dome in Nagoya, Japan, Taipei's Tianmu Stadium, and the Taipei Dome.

It remains possible that venues in North America or the Caribbean could host groups in the 2028 WBSC Premier12, though many places in Latin America would have to schedule the competition around professional winter league schedules, as Estadio Panamericano did with the Liga ARCO Mexicano del Pacifico's Charros de Jalisco in 2024, when the games were scheduled during a six-game road trip.

Due to travel considerations, a second round group held in North America would likely have to complete play by Nov. 14, 2027, as teams lose a day traveling across the international date line to Japan, and would likely want at least two days to practice and get acclimated to the time change.

The 2027 WBSC Premier12 field will include the top 12 teams in the WBSC's World Baseball Ranking as of Dec. 31, 2025: Japan, Chinese Taipei, USA, Korea, Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Panama, the Netherlands, Cuba, Australia and the Dominican Republic.

Four other teams will make the tournament field from two qualifying tournaments, the first of which will be in Barcelona, Spain, from Oct. 9-11, 2026 with World No. 13 Colombia, No. 14 Italy, No. 17 Germany and No. 26 Spain competing for two places in the Premier12. The second qualifier will take place in Zhongshan, China, from Nov. 26-28, 2026. World No. 15 Nicaragua, No. 16 Czechia, No. 18 China and No. 20 Great Britain will compete for the remaining two spots.

Photo: The Tokyo Dome will again host the super round and medal round games of the WBSC Premier12. (Photo: Leif Skodnick/World Baseball Network)