By Jordan Long
It is official. The Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees will be playing a two game regular season series at London Stadium next year. The dates of the games are June 29th and 30th with Boston being the home team. This will mark the first MLB regular season games in Europe.
This is exciting for the city of London. These two teams are usually in the top of the standings in the American League East and when they play each other, it could determine who wins the division. According to ESPN, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said, “The stadium infrastructure in this city gives Major League Baseball every opportunity to put on a first-class event. We hope this series will be the beginning of a relationship with London that persists and a continuation of increasing exposure for Major League Baseball in Europe.”
Major League Baseball is trying to be a global game. This season the Cleveland Indians and the Minnesota Twins played a two game series in Puerto Rico. This past weekend the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers finished a three game series in Monterrey, Mexico. Next year, Oakland and Seattle start the season in Tokyo on March 20th and 21st.
This should help Major League Baseball gain interest in Europe. If this experiment works, MLB may see additional games in London. It could end up being more than one series each year.
Major League baseball is taking a gamble. Boston is forced to lose two home games which is unfair to the venders. Those are lost wages and profits for them and that money may not be replaced. For the Boston Red Sox and Major League Baseball, hopefully this is a success. If not they may want to rethink playing games internationally.
wow it makes sense that way