Featured image credit: Baseball United
Baseball United, the professional league focused on the Middle East and South Asia, is set to build the first professional baseball field and ballpark in the region.
The new 6,500-seat stadium will be located in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where Baseball United played its inaugural games last year. It will be constructed within The Sevens sports and entertainment complex near to downtown Dubai and will serve as the only professional baseball ground across a 10,000km stretch ranging from Morocco to India.
“Our league has brought together so many powerful ingredients to help make baseball the Middle East and South Asia’s next great sport,” said chairman, chief executive, and co-founder of Baseball United, Kash Shaikh.
“From our passionate fanbase and legendary co-owners, to our world-class players and historic franchises, we’ve worked hard to bring the best of baseball to Dubai. The only thing that has been missing was a place to call home.
“We wanted a true, purpose-built baseball ballpark that can serve as the launchpad for professional baseball across the region. We wanted something that was entrepreneurial and right-sized, that combined new technology while paying homage to baseball’s 150 years tradition.
“Thanks to the hard work of our team and the shared vision of our incredible partners, we can now make that dream a reality.”
The stadium has been tentatively called Baseball United Ballpark as naming rights negotiations are still underway. The ballpark’s dimensions are modelled after Yankee Stadium in New York with the fences measuring the same as the iconic venue around the outfield.
The playing field will be named after former three-time Gold Glove winner in Major League Baseball, Barry Larkin. Larkin is also one of the co-founders of Baseball United after teaming up with Shaikh, John Miedreich, and Mariano Rivera in 2022.
Field construction is due to begin this week, with completion expected by the end of the year. The ballpark is due to host two professional events next year in the form of the Baseball United Cup and Baseball United Season One.
It may also opt to host the Arab Classic national team event in November during the final stages of construction. The Baseball United Cup is due to take place next year from February 22 to March 1 before the first full season is scheduled from October 23 to November 23, 2025.
The competitions are due to feature five teams in the form of the Mumbai Cobras, Karachi Monarchs, Dubai-based Arabia Wolves, Abu Dhabi’s Mid East Falcons, and Riyadh.
Share this