NFL
By: Nicholas Mukhar
Major League Baseball is doubling down on its effort to go global. One month after the highest attended and most viewed World Baseball Classic tournament ever, MLB is taking regular season games on the road to try to build on that WBC momentum. It’s called the MLB World Tour – it started in late April with the Giants and Padres playing a pair of games in Mexico City in front of sold-out crowds. The next chapter of the MLB World Tour may be the toughest in terms of the league winning over fans in a part of the world notorious for snubbing America’s pastime.
Homerun Derby in Mexico City
The MLB World Tour began 1 1/2 miles above sea level in Mexico City where the San Francisco Giants faced the San Diego Padres, April 29-30. The Padres swept the two-game series at the 20,000-seat Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú, with both teams taking advantage of the altitude and crushing a combined 11 home runs in the Padres 16-11 win in the first of the two-game set.
The Padres won the second game 6-4, but San Diego’s sweep was only the subhead of the real story from south of the border: passionate fans sold out both contests in Mexico, a sign of even further heightened baseball popularity in Latin America.
MLB taking its talents to London
Next up on the international front? Major League Baseball will send the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs across the pond – June 24-25 – to play at London Stadium. It’s the first time regular season MLB games will be played in London since 2019, when the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox played at London Stadium in front of 59,659 fans. It remains the highest-attended MLB since September 2003.
MLB’s unique marketing partnership
This year Major League Baseball is doing all it can to make a breakthrough in the European market similar to how it has made major strides into Asia, South America, and Central America with the Growing popularity of the WBC. Specifically, the League is partnering with VCCP Media, CSM Sport & Entertainment, and Sky Sports on a 360 marketing campaign featuring MLB’s return to the U.K.
The marketing campaign will highlight the authentic U.S. ballpark experience that U.K. fans can get right in their backyard, from ballpark food to watching the Cardinals vs. Cubs – two of MLB’s oldest rivals who have been battling each other for more than 130 years.
A love for baseball
Similar to what MLB was able to accomplish in Mexico, the League is trying to showcase London and its love for Baseball. It’s going to take much more of an effort to make the second leg of this year’s MLB World Tour a hit, similar to the first stop in Mexico where baseball is already wildly popular.
In a part of the world where soccer and rugby are the dominant spectator sports, Great Britain only qualified for the World Baseball Classic in 2022 with a victory over Spain and made its WBC debut in 2023 when the squad was quickly eliminated in the round-robin portion of the tournament. Despite Great Britain’s early exit, MLB is hoping that its international marketing campaign around bringing America’s pastime to London will help bring a record number of fans to London Stadium and television and online audiences to the ballpark in June.
Bringing new baseball into new markets
The MLB World Tour also gives international fans a chance to see the style of baseball being played in the MLB, from the larger bases to new extra inning rules, to the pitch clock. And familiarity with the sport can only help its popularity as Major League Baseball makes its first real push to bring baseball across the Atlantic and into new markets.
