MINNEAPOLIS — Major League Baseball’s plan for the Yankees and Blue Jays to face off in London next summer has been nixed due to scheduling issues, according to a report from the Associated Press.
MLB was hoping for the American League East rivals to play in two games next year on June 13 and 14 at West Ham’s London Stadium. West Ham plays at home for a Premier League finale against Leeds on May 24, though. That didn’t allot for enough time to convert the field into a baseball venue. The league was then unable to reschedule for later in June because FOX didn’t have available broadcast slots due to the men’s World Cup.
According to the AP’s report, there were plans for MLB to play games in Paris this year, but they were called off because MLB and the players’ association “couldn’t find a promoter.”
“We remain interested in Europe,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said, per the AP. “We think London is an important jumping off point for us. We have a facility that has come a long way since the first Yankee-Red Sox game. It’s a much better ballpark now than it was due to their willingness to make investments in that. We continue to believe that there’s an opportunity there and that we can get at the developed economies in Europe through that London entree.”
The Yankees and Red Sox played the first MLB game in Europe in 2019. The Yankees won both of those two games. Another London Series the following year was canceled due to the pandemic in 2020. MLB has been back to London in both 2023 and 2024.
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