There was serious talk at the beginning of the calendar year that Major League Baseball was prepared to play its first regular-season games in London in 2017.
The tune of that song has now changed, as the league has given up plans to play any games in London in 2017, according to the Associated Press.
Union head Tony Clark very generally explained to media on Monday that it wouldn’t be happening because of a number of factors. From the AP:
“There was discussion about London early on,” union head Tony Clark said Monday. “Unfortunately there were a number of moving pieces related to London that shortened our window in an effort to try to find common ground on that happening, and we weren’t able to get it done in time.”
On top of this, Clark wasn’t very optimistic about having Major-Leaguers participate in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo:
“Is there an appreciation for the value of having baseball in the Olympics? Yes, there is,” Clark said. “Is there an appreciation for the season and how or if it could work with our active players? Yeah, there’s a conversation, but we run into the same roadblocks we always have.”
But this isn’t necessarily the end for baseball in London. Dan Halem, the league’s chief legal officer told the AP that discussions for international play with the union will continue, along with games to be played in London.
The beauty of the World Baseball Classic, the international baseball tournament held in March every four years, is that it doesn’t interfere with the league’s regular season and serves as a decent warm-up to the regular season. The biggest issue with going to London during the regular season at this time is the ongoing collective bargaining agreement negotiations, along with the aforementioned WBC next year.
So, perhaps 2018.
[AP]
