As expected, Major League Baseball has announced that it is taking its show across the Atlantic to the United Kingdom next year. The Yankees and Red Sox will play a two-game set on June 29th and June 30th at London Stadium, the facility that hosted the 2012 Olympics.
This initiative is the latest in a line of MLB overseas adventures, but the first that is located in Europe. Previously, the league has held regular season contests in Japan, Mexico, and Australia. (Additionally, games have been held on U.S. territory in locales that lack MLB franchises, with recent events in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina.) That’s all in addition to the World Baseball Classic.
It’s not surprising that the league has first focused on other international markets. The game of baseball has a greater foothold, of course, in Asia and Latin America. That’s not to say that it’s completely unknown in Europe, though. Those interested in learning more about Euroball may enjoy listening to the MLBTR Podcast episode on the topic, featuring subject matter expert Josh Chetwynd, from a few years back.
International engagement is hardly a new concept in baseball or other professional sports, of course. Even the NFL has recently been holding games in London of late. But staging games that actually count in the standings is a relatively more challenging undertaking — and one that was specifically contemplated in the most recent collective bargaining agreement. That’s particularly true for baseball, with its intense travel schedule and near-daily games.
This is great! Hopefully a dodgers game overseas to come!
But why?
Money, basically
Money, only !
Who does it really hurt? Probably each team will lose a home game, but there are 80 other ones. Why not expand the brand!? Yanks-Red Sox is worldwide known rivalry. Sounds great to me.
True. But they also have the longest games in baseball that lull people to sleep. Bad way to market the sport. “Hey. We know Americans hate watching this series so let’s show it off to the world that baseball games take 4 hours+”. lol
Does one team lose two home dates or do both teams lose one home date?
Yes
Both are red sox home games
Rediculous to start with but why does one team lose two home games? Pennant could be on the line. Makes no sense.
The way the coin came-up.
Stupid if that was the case. Regardless of scheduling issues (8 home games), you do this with last place teams, not those expected to compete).
Why does it matter what teams do it? And why would people buying tickets in London want to watch Reds vs Orioles?
Yah, that’s a great way to build your brand.
The Yankees were finally able to flex their muscle after the Red Sox / Pud Selig Cabal was brought down. Evidently Rob Manfred struck this agreement with the Steinbrenner’s in a back room deal. Please call WEEI and complain- this outrage must not go unchallenged. I can’t afford Fenway tickets but if I could I would leave Mom’s basement and Southie to protest.
They already have cricket.
This is stupid. The majority of fans hate it, the players hate it… Only MLB likes it cuz it makes them money. I don’t see Manchester United coming to the US to play a regular season game…
The International Champions Cup is literally what you just described. Manchester United will be playing in the Rose Bowl against Milan in July of this year. And people that are interested in soccer are well aware of it.
ICC is basically glorified exhibition games. What he means is if Man U came to the US to play games for Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, etc. Which will likely never happen
Whatever. It’s still stupid.
Well said
Hot tea here!! Get your hot tea. Crumpets here, tea and crumpets here!
How do you know “The majority of fans hate it”? There’s no way you have the pulse of the players to say “the players hate it”. Oh by the way Manchester United has played in the states a few times.
My opinions on this aren’t nearly as strong (although I am annoyed that the Sox are losing two games in Fenway), but when they interviewed the players they definitely seemed to have mixed feelings about it. The first thing nearly all of them did was remark how jetlagged they were going to be.
I like the idea. Do you have a link to where players say they don’t like it?
Sounds like a good mini vacation they get for free.
Not just free – players get paid bonus checks for these games.
NESN aired some player reactions about it last night. JD Martinez, Mitch Moreland, and someone else all seemed pretty unenthused about the travel aspect in the middle of the season. I think it was JD who commented that he was interested to see how they handle the scheduling.
Imo, it’s not that much of a “vacation” if you’re still working, especially if the scheduling is tight. I’m sure the younger players will have a great time, regardless.
When I first started traveling for work I enjoyed it very much, even working 12 hour days. Getting to do my work in a new and exciting place like Las Vegas or London was pretty cool, and I always would find one day or night to go sight seeing, or even just out to dinner with colleagues.
Because football is the world’s most popular sport, so they don’t need more fans. MLB are hoping to make more brits imterested in baseball
Soccer*
Football is played by kicking the ball with your feet. No idea why gridiron is called football. Lol
Yes. Genuine mistake, didn’t mean to cause confusion
The original rules didn’t include the forward pass, so the only two means of transporting the ball were by kicking it or running it, both of which are heavily foot-involved actions. The same reason why rugby was traditionally known as “rugby football” (as opposed to association football, a.k.a. “soccer”.)
(Additionally, while it’s fairly unambiguous in this context which sport was being referred to, a community populated overwhelmingly by American English speakers is going to have pretty clear definitions for “football” and “soccer”, so it’s a good idea to adhere to that, anyhow. You’ll note some confusion on this point in follow-up replies below.)
Lots of sports more popular in the World over American football. Sports such as soccer, cricket, tennis, field hockey, rugby, boxing
When did soccer become a sport?!?!
Soccer has existed in some form for around 1400 yearsand is the most popular sport in the world⚽️
The NFL makes more revenue than the EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Series 1 combined. I firmly believe Italian rules football is more poplar worldwide but would not win in a money fight with American rules football.
“field hockey” — calm down.
Who cares. Just remind yourself how many countries play NFL, then remind yourself which countries play football and why there is the World Cup commencing next month. It might have something to do with the fact that football played with the feet is a world sport. I know facts are not liked when it comes to insular opinions.
I think it’s great, I have a couple of friends that live near London that are fired up about it.
Exhibition either in late March or during the all star break would be fine. But not in season games that take away home games. Is the stadium more like Fenway or Yankee Stadium? You build your team with your stadium in mind.
Both teams have to play in the same park. I highly doubt either team will be at a disadvantage because they can’t play in their own park. I don’t think teams put that much stock into building to their park either
Did you take a poll of every single fan? Lol. I think it’s great for the game.
As a British baseball fan and player, this will be awesome for our prospects of building the sport here and in the rest of Europe. Hugely exciting for us.
Very well said deadman. MLB is already huge in a large part of Latin Countries, a good portion of Asian Countries, and is getting a good start in Australia. The NFL has had a huge success with their London games and the NBA is ginormous in Europe. There’s only positive things that can come from this, they already hold games in Mexico.
Thanks Bocephus. We’ve got a lot of work to do to capitalise on this opportunity but we’ll be working our socks off. The NFL and NBA stuff, as well as our football/soccer taking off in the MLS shows the potential.
I’m really intrigued by how the UK fans will take to this. NFL has been big in the UK for 30+ years, but MLB has never really had the coverage. It’s very difficult to judge how many people watch the games on BT Sport for instance. I’m sure the huge names of the Yankees and Red Sox will pull people through the doors, but I’m intrigued to see how many real UK fans there are out there. I’ve met a few other UK people via Fantasy, but they are few and far between. I’m guessing if you are a player, then the community is bigger.
I think that the timing of baseball games is part of the problem. Midweek games don’t start until midnight-3am, and weekend games that start between 6-9pm ar’nt normally televised as there is football on. I don’t watch NFL, so i don’t know when it starts but i assume that kick off time is more suitable for a british audience
I love this comment. It’s great to see the British living baseball. Hopefully, one day soon we’ll see a game of the “Chicago Cubs vs. London Royals.”
Oops, we already have a “Royals.” You’ll need to get them to give you those naming rights. It’s too fitting. Lol.
Considering history and all, I wonder how many of our British friends will be rooting for The Yankees?
(note to all: completely tongue in cheek)
🙂
I know it’s tongue-in-cheek, but it’s not like Boston wasn’t the site of one of the largest anti-British protests ever.
In seriousness, when I lived in the UK years ago for about a year the Yankees and Red Sox were the teams I saw most reflected on caps and t-shirts. Sometimes I’d see another random team, and once I asked a guy wearing an Orioles cap if he followed baseball and he told me he didn’t even know it was a baseball hat– he just bought it because he thought it looked cool.
Want to play a few games here or there? Fine, great, enjoy.
But the idea of putting a full time team (as the NFL is clearly considering) overseas is one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard. You can’t have a novelty act team in your league.
Baseball putting a team in Mexico City wouldn’t be as bad, but still not a good idea.
I think the elevation in Mexico City would be a huge problem. The elevation of MC is 50% higher than it is in Denver. Because there has been no attempt to fix Peurto Rico’s infrastructure by the United States after the hurricanes a couple years ago, PR is out as a permanent location for a new franchise, although in all other respects it would make perfect sense.
Don’t know why people are down voting that… could never play MC due the altitude.That’s why there soccer team is near unbeatable there.
Puerto Rico and Cuba — which would also make sense — don’t have the wealth among the populace for a team to make money. $8 beers aren’t gonna happen in San Juan or Havana A team there would have to be subsidized by the rest of the league
How stupid! This isn’t the NFL. NFL’s losing fans at an alarming rate. MLB is not. This with hurt more than help
How on earth does this hurt not help? They’re targeting people who have probably never watched a professional ball game before. The people of Massachusetts still get to watch 79 baseball games
“The NFL is losing fans at an alarming rate”, let’s assume that’s true, please show a link to prove “alarming”. MLB has never gained the youth market, let alone, the average age of a MLB fan is 55. The league that is both not losing but gaining is the NBA. MLB currently stands as the Number 3 sport in popularity among the big 3.. #1-NFL #2-NBA.
With the population diversity change within the US Soccer is coming on fast. So how would this hurt?
In no way can this hurt MLB ! Any good exposure that new fans can experience will only help MLB !
Dumb idea.
Always thought it was odd how the Brits were more attracted to American football than baseball. When I was living over there almost 30 years ago I was shocked to see players suited up for a practice. On more recent trips I’ve seen NFL jerseys and hats for sale and being worn. I take this as a marketing coup by the NFL not some kind of inherent preference by the Brits for guys in helmets and shoulder pads.
Not a fan but don’t hate it either. Seems like it would be hell on the team traveling but meh, I’m not doing it…
Are they gonna run around the bases the wrong way, and drink tea after home runs?
Only if it’s 3 O’clock will they have a tea break.. They are punctual those pesky brits..
After 4 years off, it would be nice to see Major League Baseball back in Cincinnati, but I guess that’s a completely different subject.
LOL good one
As a huge UK baseball fan, I’m incredibly excited.
Just to address a few points. The reason that NFL is way more popular in the UK is that it appeared on mainstream UK TV from the mid 80s onwards.. Baseball hasn’t ever appeared on mainstream UK TV. Also most NFL games occur when the UK are still awake, where most MLB games are after midnight UK.
This is about money in the sense that it’s a big MLB marketing campaign. There’s obviously no way that a team could be based outside of North America due to the 162 game schedule and the travel involved. NFL doesn’t have that kind of challenge, and it’s a real possibility the Jags will shift in the next decade.
I’m not sure what’s to hate in this. Not entirely sure why the teams wouldn’t split the home games, but at most they lose two home games out of 81, so hardly a big deal. Maybe there is some extra incentive that the home team takes gate receipts. I guarantee you that the $ value will exceed a standard home game, as there definitely won’t be any cheap seats. Possibly the Sox get marketing rights too, meaning that they get to court the fans in the same way the Jags have over the years.
The UK will lap up any premium event, which is why this has to be a regular season matchup. An exhibition game would largely be ignored, but a “proper” game will likely sell out within hours.
Thank you for the UK perspective. Try to ignore the down voters.
Not an issue. If you want to see ill-informed then you should check out the UK news sites where all the trolls have surfaced trying to get a rise out of people.
This will hopefully be a festival of baseball like the NFL London games. MLB is not even 5% as popular as NFL in the UK, so it will be interesting to see how the game takes on. I should imagine there will be a lot of ex-pats going. At the first NFL game at Wembley, it was probably at least 30% an American crowd. Not the NFL games are at least 95% British. The UK fans initially did get quite a few aspects and booed the team taking a knee at the end. I expect some of the same next June. This still won’t match seeing a game in a proper ballpark, but it should be a real spectacle. Plus I’ve been to quite a few games in the US where the stadium is 80% empty by the 9th inning, so I think the Brits will try to stick it out until the end.
What would help establish the game in the UK I think is broadcasted games with at least one local play by play announcer, or one who at least explained the game as it goes along. More and more our own announcers speak in baseball lingo and shorthand that can confuse even the fans who grew up with the game. Often they ignore the game entirely and chat on and on about minutiae that may or may not have anything to do with baseball. That style (already annoying to many of us here) would completely frustrate an audience unfamiliar with the game. The game is ridiculously complicated, and that is one of its joys, but it requires a great deal of explaining to anyone who didn’t have it in their mother’s milk so to speak. (Similarly, I’ve tried watching cricket a few times. I might get interested if anyone bother to explain what is going on!)
To be fair, the principles of baseball and cricket are both fairly easy. Casual viewers can grasp the basics – it’s just the finer points that make it more difficult to understand, and those finer points are the parts that will keep you watch (or not). The length of the games for cricket or baseball can be a challenge for the casual viewer too.
The game is loaded with finer points. Not long ago an experienced umpire threw a series of baseball rule questions at me. I was surprised by the number of answers I thought I knew that turned out to be incorrect. Some of these rules can be important to the results of any given game. How do you even explain a balk, especially when umpires are so notoriously inconsistent in the way they call them?
Good for you, enjoy. Keep conspiring with the Yankee brass to make sure it counts as a Red Sox home game. It infuriates Red Sox fans who can’t afford Fenway and provides great pleasure for the rest of baseball fans. People who love the game want to see it spread beyond North & Latin America and Japan. Enjoy!!!
Haha – you don’t think that the Sox ownership will be making a small fortune out of this? I love how the Boston fans think John W Henry has been strong-armed into this. He owns Liverpool and I’m sure he sees a huge opportunity in this move. Being the “home” team in this event will probably come with huge benefits.
Balls have always been important to the English…….
Dumb idea. There are other problems than playing overseas such as fixing the unbalanced schedule and the DH in the AL
How does this impact either of those?
It doesn’t. He’s also mad the local newspaper went out of business and he’s really upset about not being able to find new parts for his Oldsmobile.
You mean no DH in the NL? Or do you find it fun watching real players get pitched around so the opposing pitcher can get a free out?
Yeah, I’m sure London will love a 5.5 hr 9 inning game. Id bet Boston and New York are mostly responsible for ‘length of game’ problems.
They have cricket. They are ready.
How long is a good old-fashioned cricket match? Do they have a pitch clock or instant replay?
True test cricket takes days. Otherwise, no clue.
Various lengths from 5 day Test Cricket to a few hours for T20 games. There is a video replay challenge system. No pitch clock as such but there are over rates that teams must adhere to.. (Overs are 6 balls each.)
We have cricket, t20 mirrors baseball for length of game, but we are not going to worry about twenty minutes here or there. We’ve got the biggest rivalry in the MLB coming to town and we are excited.
I think this is a great idea, NBA and NFL are rapidly gaining popularity in the uk, particularly in under 30s, whereas baseball is gaining little populatity. Surely they should at least try to become popular in europe. Contrary to what many may believe cricket is not very popular, the reason being that it is extremely boring. Baseball could easily overtake cricket and that starts by giving brits a chance to see it and sample the atmosphere. I would argue that NFL and NBA are 3rd and 4th most popular sports in uk among young people, behind soccer and rugby so MLB would be foolish to not try and expand into the uk
Stupid decision! Never will there be baseball in UK- soccer, cricket, rugby rule.
plus Ruins players routines and risks injuries.
Go to Latin America- where the fans come out in droves and you actually might put a team in.
Why is it the Yankees and red Sox? Their rivalry is so boring its unreal. Make it a fun rivalry. Cubs and cards. Nats and Phillies.