Back in June 2019, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees played a pair of games at London’s Olympic Stadium. The league’s plans to hold future contests overseas were thwarted, however, by the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the creation of a shortened 2020 season and impacted the following campaign.
According to The Associated Press (h/t ESPN) and an official MLB press release, big-league baseball will be returning to London in 2023. Regular-season games will also be held there in 2024 and 2026 as part of an agreement related to the formation of the MLB London Legacy Group that will include individuals from the Greater London Authority and Baseball Softball UK.
Per The AP, the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs were originally scheduled to play in London in June 2020, but those contests were scrapped because of the pandemic. The Cardinals and Cubs are considered “leading candidates” to play there at some point next year.
“Today is an historic day for London and baseball,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said. “I want to continue attracting world-class sport to our city as part of my mission to make London the sporting capital of the world. This long-term partnership with Major League Baseball is ambitious and includes regular-season games as well as a legacy program designed to grow the number of Londoners watching and playing baseball at a grassroots level in London. These games will be a fantastic opportunity to once again showcase the London Stadium as a multi-use venue and a fantastic asset for the capital.”
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred added: “It was clear that sports fans in London had a great appetite for baseball and that passion was shared by Mayor Khan as well as the business and media community.”
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