Major League Baseball announces Boston Red Sox to host arch rivals the New York Yankees in London

The age-old adversaries will renew their rivalry in somewhat novel surroundings

The London Stadium will host two Major League Baseball contests next summer, the MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred and the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced today. The Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees will meet on the 29th and 30th of June in 2019 in what will be the first MLB games played in Europe. The MLB also committed to playing in London in 2020.

The league has previously hosted games outside of the mainland United States and Canada in Mexico, Japan, Puerto Rico and Australia. Boston will serve as the home team for the two-game series between these two great traditional rivals.

MLB will complete the set as the fourth of the ‘Big Four’ American sporting leagues to come to London. The O2 Arena hosted an NHL game in 2007 and eight NBA games since 2011. The NFL’s International Series is well established here now, with Wembley hosting two games and Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium hosting its first later this year over a decade since their first game on English soil.

The London Stadium has hosted football, rugby, athletics, motor sport and now baseball (Getty)

Baseball will continue the London Stadium’s evolution as a multi-sport venue. Built for the athletics programme and ceremonies at the 2012 London Olympics, it has been the home of West Ham since August of 2016. It continues to host the annual ‘Anniversary Games’ athletics event and the 2017 IAAF World Championships were also held at the stadium.

Both rugby codes have had fixtures at the site in Stratford, while the 2015 Race of Champions also occurred at the stadium. It was recently deemed unsuitable to host games for the 2019 Cricket World Cup, but the 400-metre track widens the playing area and thus makes it a better fit than London’s other stadia to accommodate a baseball field. It will have an estimated capacity of 55,000.

The Yankees remain one of the most popular teams in baseball (2015 Getty Images)

It is no coincidence that these two franchises have been chosen to make the first foray to these shores. The Red Sox and the Yankees have developed a legendary rivalry (regarded by some as the greatest in sport) since their first meeting in April of 1901, capitalising on the historical competitive distaste between the cities these franchises call home. The rivalry intensified through the ‘Curse of the Bambino’, the 86-year streak the Red Sox endured without a World Series victory after trading star Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1919.

Marketability is also a key; these are arguably the two most recognisable baseball franchises worldwide. Commissioner Manfred confirmed there was plenty of interest from other franchises, but felt the Red Sox and the Yankees were the ideal teams to kick off baseball in Europe.