On June 10 the Italian Baseball and Softball Federation (FIBS) met with executives of the Italian Baseball League (IBL) in Florence, Italy to discuss a new format of the IBL. Starting in 2013 the IBL would expand from 8 to 12 teams, split into two groups. In the first phase a round robin would be played with two games per week with one match reserved to pitchers developed in Italy.
In the second phase the top three teams of each pool would move up for another round robin with three games per week. The remaining six teams would play another round robin similar to the first phase. The top four teams advance into the playoffs in round three with a format still to be determined. Eliminated teams would play for the Italian Cup, which awards a spot in the European Cup, as it is the case right now.
In the end teams would play a minimum of 40 games and a maximum of 50 games, based on their performance. The season would span from April 6 to September 21 with breaks for the All-Star game and the European Cup. The new format will be further discussed in October.