Major League Baseball could soon vacation to London, according to Fox Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi.
Morosi reported Wednesday morning that MLB “is making progress” in discussion with London officials about bringing games to the UK as early as 2017. The talks were first reported last weekend by The Telegraph.
These games would reportedly be held at Olympic Stadium, a venue built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and currently being renovated to host the West Ham United soccer club.
MLB is the only major American sports league yet to play games in Europe, and given baseball’s emphasis on globalization, this move seemed inevitable. In recent years, MLB has held games in Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Australia.
The baseball-to-the-UK arrangement seems to make too much sense not to happen.
Distance isn’t a huge problem (the trip from Boston to London is barely longer than Boston to Seattle); Olympic Stadium is reportedly big enough for baseball and will soon include a roof to protect against cold March and April weather; and, according to Morosi, MLB officials view London as the optimal entry point for spreading baseball to Europe:
While the Netherlands, Italy and Germany have stronger national baseball programs, MLB officials long have viewed London as an ideal entry point to Europe for a variety of reasons: the city’s familiarity with hosting regular NFL and NBA events; one of the world’s largest corporate sponsorship bases; and the ease with which new fans could access online game broadcasts in English after MLB’s trip.
Teams often aren’t thrilled about starting their season overseas, but that’s never stopped MLB (or any other league) before. Given today’s report, baseball in London appears to be a matter of when, not if.
