On July 29-30 the United Kingdom will be hosting the London Series. The series will be taking place in London Stadium. This series will be pitting age-old rivals the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox in an early playoff contention game.
The last time the MLB ventured into an untapped market was in 2014 in Australia. The Dodgers and the Diamondbacks played a two-game series in a highly successful venture outside the United States. Both games ended up drawing a combined 82,814 fans. Above all else, the huge success was that Australia was seen as the next boom for baseball at the time. With this success also came along the rebirth of their league called the ABL (Australian Baseball League). The success of the Australian tour and an increase in Australian born players shows that it’s a no-brainer for the MLB to continue their expansion into the UK.
In the most recent WBC (World Baseball Classic), Great Britain went further then they had ever gone in the tournament, making it to the final game of the qualifiers vs Israel. However, losing 9-1 did end Britain’s push for WBC glory. They showed improvement when you compare this to their 2013 run, where they lost to both Canada and Germany by double-digits. They have the talent and proper development programs for their players who are ready to make the jump to the MLB.
International baseball saw a huge boost in fans with the growing popularity of the WBC. Overall viewership of the event was up 32% in 2017 compared to the 2013 event. International baseball revenue also rose 25% higher than the previous record holder of first-round play. This means more money for the MLB which leads to more international games (like the London Series).
With baseball’s stronghold on Japan, the Caribbean, and Australia, the UK is the next destination for the MLB’s expansion plan. The MLB sending their two most mainstream teams for the London Series means their expecting a huge payoff. Pre-sale and general sale tickets have already sold out seven months ahead of the series. In other words, there appears to be a huge appetite for the sport in the UK and Europe.
For now, all we can do is sit and wait to see how this will pan out. If this idea works out, could we see a new professional baseball league pop up like the one in Japan? Could it just be like the Caribbean, where they pump out stud after stud and then have a super team for the WBC?
Do you think it’s worth the MLB’s time to head to the UK? For further discussion on this topic head on over to my IG and Twitter to discuss, or leave a comment down below.