Parma and Nettuno to represent Italian Serie A in BCL Europe
The Italian Serie A will be represented by two teams in the first edition of the Baseball Champions League (BCL) Europe: Parma Baseball and Nettuno 1945. Parma will compete in the Regensburg Group, while Nettuno will participate in the Rotterdam Group.
The BCL Europe Group Stage is scheduled from May 22 to 24. The top two finishers of each group will compete in the Final Four on September 26 and 27. The WBSC will award the hosting rights of the Final Four at the end of the Group Stage.
From Italian Baseball League to Serie A Gold
Italy has had an organised baseball league since 1948, when Libertas Bologna defeated four teams from the Milan area in the historic first edition of the Italian Baseball League (LIB, Lega Italiana Baseball). In 1949, the competing Italian Baseball Association (AIB, Associazione Italiana Baseball) launched a three-team league with all the participants based in Rome, which Lazio won. After a merger, the new governing body reshaped the 1950 Serie A to a 17-team format.
In 1958, the National Federation (at the time FIPAB, Federazione Italiana Palla Base) launched an elite tournament named Torneo d'Oro (Golden Tournament), which included the top-three teams, all based in the Rome area: Nettuno, Lazio and Roma. The attempt to launch a professional league failed, and the three elite teams returned to the Serie A league in 1959.
Serie A introduced double headers in 1965 under President Giuseppe Ghillini. After renaming the Federation FIBS (Federazione Italiana Baseball Softball), President Bruno Beneck rebranded the Serie A National League (Serie Nazionale). He introduced a three-game-per-weekend format and night games.
In 2008, then-FIBS-President Riccardo Fraccari made a new attempt at a professional league. The eight-team league was rebranded the Italian Baseball League and didn't include the standard European format of promotion and relegation.
From 2017, then-President Andrea Marcon opted for an open format (32 teams) and used again Serie A as a denomination.
Elected in 2024, President Marco Mazzieri announced another format change. The top 2026 league is the 10-team Italian Serie A Gold. At the end of the season, two teams will fall to Serie A Silver, with the top two finishers in the Silver league advancing to Serie A Gold.
Parma and Nettuno are success stories
The two clubs representing Italy in the inaugural BCL Europe contributed to the history of the game in Italy and Europe.
Nettuno is known as The City of Baseball in Italy. Actually, the first organised teams played men's softball. The club has won 17 league titles. the first in 1951 and the last in 2001, and seven European Champions Cup.
Nettuno debuted with two wins in the 2026 Serie A.
Parma baseball was founded in 1949, but didn't win its first league title until 1976. They will participate in the BCL Europe on the 50th anniversary of that historic success. Parma has won 11 league titles, the last in 2024, and a record 15 European Champions Cup titles.
Parma won the first two games of the 2026 season.
2026 Serie A
The 10 participants in the 2026 Serie A Gold split into two groups. Parma and Nettuno will compete in Group A together with Unipol Bologna, BBC Grosseto and Farma Crocetta Parma. San Marino, Hotsand Macerata, Big Mat Grosseto, Palfinger Reggio Emilia and Camec Collecchio will play in Group B.
The teams will face each other four times and will play the five teams in the other group twice. At the end of the regular season (July 25), the top four finishers in each group will advance to the postseason, while the fifth-place teams will be relegated to the Serie A Silver.
The round of eight will feature best-of-five series, while the semifinals and the final (or Italian Baseball Series) will be best-of-seven. The Italian Baseball Series is scheduled from August 27 to September 6.
Cover photo by Corrado Benedetti
Categories: Baseball , Baseball Champions League , Europe , Men's Baseball
