On Thursday, August 4th, 2022 Major League Baseball announced that the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals will play in London in June of 2023 MLB season. Major League Baseball intends on returning to London next year during the 2023 MLB season for the very 1st – time since the 2019 MLB season.
Major League Baseball released a statement on Thursday, August 4th, 2022 that the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs will be playing a 2 – game series on June 24th, 2023 and June 25th, 2023, at the historic and legendary London Stadium. The National League Central division rivals were originally scheduled to play in London way back in 2020, but those games had to be cancelled due to the fact that the world was dealing with bigger issues as in the devastating coronavirus pandemic.
“The Cardinals are excited and honored to be a part of the London Series next year,” the St. Louis Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. mentioned. “The Cardinals – Cubs rivalry is one of the best in sports, and it will be exciting to bring it to Europe for a new audience to experience.”
The last time Major League Baseball actually played a ball game in London was way back during the summer of the 2019 MLB season, when the New York Yankees swept their 2 – game series versus their American League East division rivals in the Boston Red Sox. Those games took place in June of 2019 also at London Stadium. Those were also Major League Baseball’s 1st – regular – season games to ever be played overseas in Europe.
Both the Chicago Cubs as well as the St. Louis Cardinals have played international games before in the past as the Chicago Cubs opened their 2000 MLB season playing ball games in Tokyo, Japan versus the New York Mets, and they also played a 3 – game series versus the Montreal Expos in San Juan, Puerto Rico, way back during the 2003 season of Major League Baseball. The St. Louis Cardinals played a 2 – game series versus the Cincinnati Reds in Mexico back in 2019 too.
“The MLB London Series between the Cubs and Cardinals has been in the works for years now and we’re thrilled to finally be able to bring one of baseball’s biggest rivalries to fans abroad in 2023,” the Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts expressed.
The 2023 London Series is part of an international playing landscape scheme that was approved during last March’s labor agreement between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association. This International slate also plans for more games in London in both 2024 as well as 2026, the 1st MLB games to be played in France will take place in 2025, the annual Mexico City, Mexico MLB games should be scheduled accordingly from 2023 – 2026 as well, an Asian opener in 2024, and a Tokyo, Japan opener during the 2025 MLB season.
“These games will be a great opportunity to once again showcase the London Stadium as a multiuse venue and an asset to the capital,” the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, explained. “The St Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs are two of the best supported clubs in baseball and I know they will receive a fantastic reception next summer here in the sporting capital of the world.”
Sources:
The Associated Press News Services. “London Calling: Cubs – Cardinals set for London in June 2023”. The Associated Press. Thursday, August 4, 2022.