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Why Yankees-Blue Jays London series just got axed
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- Why Yankees-Blue Jays London series just got axed
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The post Why Yankees-Blue Jays London series just got axed appeared first on ClutchPoints .
In 2024, MLB held its third series in London between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies . A year later, that series has been put on hold.
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On Wednesday, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred officially announced that the 2026 London series between the Yankees and Blue Jays was canceled, per ESPN.
Ultimately, there was a scheduling conflict between the series and a soccer match that preceded it. A Premier League finale between Leeds and West Ham is scheduled for May 24.
As a result, there would be little time to convert London Stadium into a baseball field.
Therefore, Manfred confirmed its cancellation during a Front Office Sports "Tuned In" session. At the same time, MLB had its contract with Paris nixed due to a lack of a promoter to host games this year.
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Nevertheless, Manfred insists that MLB is committed to expanding the game in Europe.
"We remain interested in Europe. We think London is an important jumping off point for us," Manfred said.
In 2019, the MLB London Series debuted between the Yankees and Red Sox . The following year, COVID cancelled the scheduled series between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals .
In 2023, the series returned with the Cubs and Cardinals.
"We have a facility that has come a long way since the first Yankee-Red Sox game," Manfred said. "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."
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Additionally, Manfred said that MLB is looking to form a partnership with India, given the popularity of cricket.
"We're really starting from the bottom up," he said.
MLB is going global in additional markets
Also, Manfred hints that MLB is looking to duplicate this global outreach into other international markets.
Among them include Mexico, Japan, and Korea. In Mexico, MLB has hosted regular season games in Monterey in 1996, 1999, 2018, and 2019.
Next year, the San Diego Padres and the Arizona Diamondbacks are expected to play there in April.
Also, MLB has a huge fanbase in Japan and Korea and has hosted games there as well. Recently, the Cubs and Dodgers clashed in Tokyo during the preseason.
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"Our approach to international has always been country by country, largely because we find the places we're interested in to be in different stages of development," Manfred said. "With respect to Japan and Korea, we made investments there. We monetarily, and players, in terms of the sweat equity involved, of making the trip to Tokyo to open the season, making the trip to Seoul to open the season, that we have started to see return on those investments.
The enormous popularity of Shohei Ohtani helps grow the game too.
Related: MLB Hall of Famer explains 1 part of baseball that reveals 'who you are'
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