NOVEMBER | FEATURE
On the ball
Major League Baseball’s ascent
internationally has been carefully
planned, but there are still important
demographic differentiators
M
ajor League Baseball’s
‘World Series’ may be
famously devoid of world
teams, but its raft of international
players, its nail-biting action, and
its pomp and circumstance have
solidified its global appeal.
MLB previously held regular
season games in Australia, Japan,
Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and
spring training games in China, but
until this summer, it had never held
any games in Europe.
Unlike the NBA and the NfL,
MLB’s UK ascent has been
relatively recent. MLB announced a
two-year agreement in 2018 to hold
baseball games at London Stadium
during the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
14
The inaugural series was played
between long time divisional rivals
the Red Sox and Yankees.
Putting the ‘world’ in World
Series
Charlie Hill, vice president
international strategy at Major League
Baseball, talks expansion
How is the UK market different to
the US?
The number of fans we have in
each market differs. There are
already a large number of fans
in Europe with a mix of those
regularly watching the game and
those actually playing. We wanted
to make sure that all fans coming
to the games had a basic level
of understanding to assist their
enjoyment.
We worked with media outlets
in the UK to increase media
coverage of the 2018 post-season
and 2019 season ahead of the