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MLB Could Stage London Games in 2019

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Major League Baseball continues to look for ways to broaden its outreach in London, and could stage regular season games there as early as 2019. 

In recent years, there has been some discussion that MLB could shift some regular season games to London. At one point, it seemed that such a plan could come to fruition this year, but MLB confirmed last summer that it would look to play the games at a later time.

Signs of MLB’s interest in London were seen on Tuesday, when several former players–including Cliff Floyd, Shawn Green, and Carlos Pena–took part in a home run derby at Hyde Park that also featured several English international cricketers. The event generated its fair share of interest, but it could be a sign of bigger events to come. MLB says it is still focusing on its effort to regular season games in London, could do so as early as 2019. While nothing has been finalized, it is possible that a short series will take place. More from The New York Times:

M.L.B. hopes to play a short series in London in 2019. The N.B.A. has held games in London, and the N.F.L. has played regular-season games in the city every year since 2007, mostly at Wembley Stadium. But that field would not accommodate baseball, so the Olympic Stadium would probably host M.L.B. games.

Chris Park, M.L.B.’s point man for international development of baseball, said that he was optimistic that the games could be scheduled — most likely two.

MLB has never scheduled a game in London, but it is no stranger to staging regular season contests in other countries. Australia, Japan, and Mexico are among the countries to have hosted international games.

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