Headquartered in Pully, Switzerland, the WBSC was granted recognition as the sole competent global authority for both the sports of baseball and softball by the International Olympic Committee in 2013.

It holds the exclusive rights of all competitions, tournaments and world championships featuring national teams, including the Olympic Games, and WBSC-associated federations hold the right to organize and select national teams[2] Discussions to merge the two separate world governing bodies for the sports of baseball and softball were sparked by a Memorandum of Understanding that saw baseball and softball leaders agree to form a joint bid to be added to the 2020 Olympic Games sports program.

[7] As the IOC's guidance indicated the necessity for baseball and softball to be jointly considered for reinstatement in the Olympic programme, the two independent International Federations set out on a path toward a full and complete merger.

[citation needed] The creation of a single federation allowed for the permanent alignment, merger and management of baseball and softball at the world level.

[8] The merger resulted in an immediate boost to the governance, universality and gender equality of baseball and softball, criteria for an Olympic sport that are heavily valued by the IOC.

It is targeted at underserved communities,[11] as well as offering a low-cost and fast-paced entry point to baseball and softball in new places around the world.

[14] It was inspired by various Latin American street games, such as "cuatro esquinas" (four corners) in Cuba,[15] and has been played in some international tournaments in the Americas and Europe,[16][12][17] as well as having been implemented in some schools in various countries.