Though efforts to bring MLB exhibition games to London in 2017 were scrapped earlier this summer, the plan to bring teams to London Stadium was revived after meetings between Commissioner Rob Manfred and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
London Stadium is the former Olympic Stadium, now occupied by West Ham of the Premier League. (We cover the recent work on conversion of the facility for use by professional soccer on our sister site, Soccer Stadium Digest.) MLB has never scheduled a game in London, but past international exhibitions, such as those in Australia, have been deemed a success.
During a recent visit Khan met with MLB officials and made the baseball rounds, tossing out a first pitch at a New York Mets game at Citi Field. From the BBC:
“Commissioner Manfred and the Mayor of London had a very good meeting on a variety of topics,” said an MLB spokesperson….
Khan said earlier on Wednesday: “We’re in discussions about MLB and we want MLB to come to London.
“What we’re discussing with Major League Baseball is for them to come here during the summer, which works for us for obvious reasons. They are very excited.”
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