Major League Baseball already has one Canadian team, and another could be on the way depending on what happens to the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays. But before that, Commissioner Rob Manfred wants to have some games across the pond.
Manfred told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he hopes the MLB will play its first regular season games in London by 2017. The commissioner's most recent interest is to get the game to Europe after fulfilling a number of other international initiatives earlier this year.
"We are very interested in playing there, and we're working hard on that one," Manfred said. "I don't think it will be an opener because of the weather issues. It would be later in the season."
"We haven't really settled on teams, and I don't want to speculate about that. Obviously, we want to make as good a first impression in Europe as we possibly can."
If a deal is struck, the first ever MLB game will be played in Europe.
The Telegraph reported back in November that the MLB and the operators of Olympic Stadium in West Ham were engaged in "advanced negotiations" to schedule games at the venue for 2017.
The league already has some spring training games scheduled in Mexico City this year as the Houston Astros and San Diego Padres will square off south of the border in March. Exhibition games have been played in Montreal for the past three years and those matchups drew enormous crowds at Olympic Stadium. This year the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox will bring their rivalry to the former home of the Expos.
As for regular season matchups, the MLB won't open the season overseas as it has in the past with games in Australia and Japan, but the Pirates and Marlins will play two games in Puerto Rico on May 30-31 to honor Roberto Clemente.
Manfred and the MLB also agreed to a partnership with Chinese sports network, Le Sports, which will allow the Internet-based eco-sports company to stream 125 regular season MLB games per year from 2016-2018, which is a first for China.
Baseball is further tapping into the international market and Manfred has clearly spearheaded that initiative during his first year as commissioner.
