2019 MLB London Series

The 2019 MLB London Series was a two-game Major League Baseball series between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox at London Stadium in London, United Kingdom, in 2019. Sponsored by Mitel, it is branded as Mitel & MLB Present London Series. These were the first MLB games ever played in Europe.

The games were played on June 29–30, 2019, with the Red Sox serving as the designated "home" team for both games.

Background

On May 8, 2018, MLB announced a two-year agreement to hold baseball games at London Stadium during the and 2020 seasons.

Participating teams

The inaugural series was played between the Red Sox and Yankees, longtime divisional rivals, who had expressed specific interest in participating in the London games. Salter noted that the Yankees and Red Sox are among MLB's most iconic teams, and contrasted the NFL's reluctance to send its high-profile teams to London, as they would be too disruptive to their lucrative and comparatively limited schedules (with a 16-game regular season in comparison to MLB's 162-game regular season). Via their parent company Fenway Sports Group, the Red Sox are also co-owned with Premier League club Liverpool F.C.

Roster

Venue

Locating a venue with the correct dimensions required for a baseball field was difficult, especially as the majority of stadiums in the London region are primarily designed for association football. MLB officials had evaluated multiple options (including cricket grounds such as The Oval), before finalizing London Stadium as the site. The facility was originally constructed for the 2012 Summer Olympics; in late-2015, it was reported that MLB officials had measured the stadium's dimensions and considered it potentially suitable for baseball, and had negotiated the possibility of holding games there.

MLB developed a plan to make London Stadium for the games resemble an MLB ballpark, via installation of a new baseball field as an overlay on top of the stadium's existing running track and soccer pitch, with a seating configuration to emulate the more "intimate" layout and fan experiences of MLB ballparks. Materials to construct the playing surface include approximately of FieldTurf, and clay for the pitcher's mound and home plate area sourced from Pennsylvania. As the facility's locker rooms are smaller and suited towards soccer, larger, MLB-style clubhouses were built within the stadium. As done at Toronto's Rogers Centre, dimensions from home plate are posted in feet ''and'' meters: to the foul poles and 385 feet (117.4 m) to center field, with a fence. The dimensions have been described as being potentially hitter-friendly. The two points in left center and right center where the temporary fences join the wall in center field area are slightly closer than center, marked as . As the roof overhangs the home plate area, there is a ground rule that balls hitting the roof are considered dead.

On April 29, 2019, it was announced that ProgrammeMaster, a London-based sports publisher, had secured the rights to produce the official gameday programme. On May 24, 2019, it went on sale online, priced at £10.

Broadcasting

In the United States, television rights for the series were split between Fox and ESPN respectively, with both games called by their lead commentary teams (led by Joe Buck and Matt Vasgersian, respectively). The first game aired as part of the afternoon (U.S. time) '' Fox Saturday Baseball'', and the second aired in the morning.

In November 2018, it was reported that Major League Baseball was nearing a deal with the BBC
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