Featured image credit: London Stadium
Major League Baseball (MLB) has today (Friday) announced that the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies will contest its third series played in London, with games scheduled for June 8-9 next year.
The MLB World Tour will return to London Stadium in 2024 with a two-game series between the Mets and Phillies. The NL East rivalry will follow the inaugural series that was held on June 29-30, 2019 between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, and this weekend’s games between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals.
The 2023 London Series marks a return to the baseball-configured London Stadium following 2019’s inaugural event, the first-ever regular season games played in Europe. The Cubs and Cardinals were set to feature in the 2020 London Series, only for the event to be called off due to COVID-19.
The 2024 London Series will be the fourth international trip for the Mets and the first for Philadelphia. The Mets participated in the first-ever regular season games played in Mexico during a three-game series against the San Diego Padres in Monterrey from August 16-18, 1996 before appearing in MLB’s first regular season games in Japan during a two-game opening series with the Cubs on March 29-30, 2000.
The Mets made their most recent trip on June 28-30, 2010, when they played a three-game series against the Florida Marlins in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Steve Cohen, Mets owner, chairman and CEO, said: “Interest in baseball is growing all over the world and to bring the Mets ‘never-say-die’ attitude to sports fans in London is a tremendous honour.
“Our Queens family is ready to show London a great time with exciting baseball and amazing experiences that create new fans and build the Mets community throughout the United Kingdom.”
Phillies managing partner and CEO, John Middleton, added: “Major League Baseball has done an excellent job of expanding its footprint internationally and we are honoured to play a role in that effort as part of the 2024 London Series.
“This will be a wonderful opportunity to showcase our players’ talents and highlight the excitement that comes with a Phillies-Mets matchup for our fans in the UK and for those who have never attended a baseball game.”
The 2024 London Series is part of the MLB World Tour, which represents MLB and the Players Association’s (MLBPA) largest ever international play plan featuring up to 24 regular season games and up to 16 exhibition games played in Asia, Mexico and Latin America, and Europe through the 2026 season. It has been made possible through the March 2022 agreement of a new labour deal between the League and the MLBPA.
London Stadium was lined up to host more regular-season MLB games in the coming years as part of a new long-term strategic partnership agreed between the city and the League in May 2022. The agreement includes a commitment from the League to hold major events in London over the next five years.
The partnership foresees London Stadium, home of Premier League football club West Ham United, hosting regular-season games in 2023, 2024 and 2026.
London Stadium’s two MLB games in the summer of 2019 attracted a total of 120,000 fans in attendance across two days. The series provided a boost worth nearly £37m (€43.3m/$47.1m) to the London economy, according to a YouGov event impact study.
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