Leagues

MLB Returns To London Amid Growing World Tour

Games this weekend at London Stadium are MLB’s first in U.K. since 2019
Manfred seeks to walk back sarcastic A’s comment

Jun 23, 2023 | 11:24 am

UPDATED Apr 16, 2024 | 01:53 pm

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Major League Baseball hits London this weekend for the first time in four years — but it won’t be nearly that long before the league returns with its MLB World Tour.

The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals will play Saturday and Sunday at London Stadium, home of the Premier League’s West Ham United, in the first MLB U.K. games since a New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox set in 2019.

A return to the U.K. was delayed by the pandemic and MLB labor issues, but on Friday the league announced plans to play again in London in June 2024 with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies.

The games are part of the MLB World Tour, which over the course of the league’s labor deal with the MLB Players Association — which runs through 2026 — will also visit Mexico, France, Japan, and Puerto Rico.

With up to 24 regular-season games and 16 exhibitions, the MLB World Tour is the league’s largest international slate ever.

Oakland Walkback

While in London, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred sought to walk back sarcastic and widely criticized comments he made last week regarding Oakland A’s fan support at the recent “reverse boycott” game.

“The comment that I made about the fans on a particular night was taken out of context,” Manfred said. “I feel sorry for the fans. We hate to move. We did everything we could possibly do to keep the club in Oakland. And unfortunately, one night doesn’t change a decade’s worth of inaction.”