Which Major League Baseball teams will play in the London Series in 2023?
Baseball is back in London for the first time since before the covid pandemic, announcing a new series for next summer’s regular season play.
Major League Baseball have announces plans to bring the game back to London for the first time since the entire world ground to a halt for the pandemic. The St Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs will play a two-game series on June 24-25, 2023 at London Stadium.
These two National League Central teams were meant to play in 2020, when the shortening of the season led to the games being cancelled.
In a press release, Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr said, “The Cardinals are excited and honored to be a part of the London Series next year. The Cardinals-Cubs rivalry is one of the best in sports, and it will be exciting to bring it to Europe for a new audience to experience.”
The last time that MLB was in London, the Yankees swept the Red Sox in a two-game series in front of a sold-out crowd. Those were the first regular-season games played in Europe for the MLB.
The Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said in his team’s release, “The MLB London Series between the Cubs and Cardinals has been in the works for years now and we’re thrilled to finally be able to bring one of baseball’s biggest rivalries to fans abroad in 2023.”
Back in March, the league and players association came to a new labor agreement which included an international slate of games, with London being played in 2023, ‘24, and ‘26, plus games in France in 2025, Mexico City from 2023 to 2026, an Asian game in 2024, and a Tokyo game in 2025.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan released a statement saying, “These games will be a great opportunity to once again showcase the London Stadium as a multiuse venue and an asset to the capital. The St Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs are two of the best supported clubs in baseball and I know they will receive a fantastic reception next summer here in the sporting capital of the world.’’
The UK games are part of the larger plan by MLB to play as many as 26 regular season games abroad over the next few years in an effort to widen the appeal of the game.