Report: Yankees-Red Sox Regular-Season Series in London Likely for 2019

Baseball’s best rivalry could be headed to London.

The Yankees and Red Sox “are nearing an agreement” to play two regular-season games in London next June, Bloomberg’s Janet Paskin and Scott Soshnick report.

It would be the first MLB game held in Europe. The league has previously put regular-season games in Japan, Australia and Mexico. 

The games would be played at London’s Olympic Stadium, currently home to the Premier League club West Ham United. Because the stadium previously housed a track for the Olympics, it has a more spacious surface than other soccer stadiums. 

The latest MLB collective bargaining agreement includes a provision whereby players are paid a bonus for participating in such international games. (London is the only city specifically named in the CBA.) Each player receives $60,000 for participating, a significant bonus for players making the league minimum of around $500,000. 

Commissioner Rob Manfred has previously expressed interest in playing games in London and MLB laid the groundwork by hosting a home run derby in the city’s Hyde Park last summer.