Inside the Yankees-Red Sox London debut MLB really wants
TAMPA — Big Ben is about to get some big baseball company in big Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and a regular-season series between the Yankees and their biggest rival, the Red Sox, if the timing and details can be worked out.
According to The Post’s Joel Sherman, MLB is hopeful of finalizing an agreement for the Yankees and Red Sox to play a two-game series in London in June 2019. The games would be played at London Stadium.
But there are major hurdles.
MLB desperately wants this to happen, but there is still no promoter, nor is there a deal with London Stadium yet. MLB considered using Wembley Stadium, but it couldn’t be properly configured for baseball. MLB also considered having the season opener in London, but the city’s April weather isn’t favorable.
MLB very much wants to play in Europe next season — seeing it as a future market that could yield great financial reward — and would love for it to be a marquee matchup of Yanks-Sox. So the league will work hard to clear the hurdles and finalize the event.
“The Red Sox would certainly be willing participants in a London series, but this decision will be made [by] MLB and the MLBPA,” Sam Kennedy, Red Sox president and CEO, told the Boston Herald on Monday.
MLB is committed to growing the game in foreign markets, and not just in places like Tokyo, where the Yankees and Rays played two regular-season games to begin the 2004 season.
London Stadium was the main facility for the 2012 Olympics. Bloomberg first reported the shaping of the series. Bringing the Yankees and Red Sox to London shows that MLB wants to put forth one of its best rivalries. The AL East is a battleground, and Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park are iconic ballparks so this will showcase a great rivalry in a new setting.
The game will gather plenty of media attention as well, given the Boston and New York markets.
In so many ways, this is a brand new ballgame because MLB games have yet to be played in Europe. There have been games in Mexico, Japan and Australia but not in Europe. The Yankees open this season in Toronto next week.
Even though the Players Association and MLB have had their differences lately relating to free agency, the sides are committed to growing the game and building a number of international destinations. More destinations equal more fans equal more money for MLB.
This could be the start of a new wave of overseas marketing.
A Yankees series against the Red Sox has a lot more going for it than so many other teams. This is the ultimate rivalry, and putting it in such a different venue will give baseball in Britain a jump-start.