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O
ver the weekend, the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals played a two-game series at London Stadium. It marked the second time Major League Baseball had held games in England, with the first-ever overseas venture coming in 2019 between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
The 2023 version of the “London Series” was considered a rousing success, with the stadium getting packed with 54,662 spectators on Saturday.
But the series wasn’t welcomed by all baseball enthusiasts. On his “What Are You Mad About” segment on First Take, noted ESPN talking head Chris “Mad Dog” Russo ripped into the idea of MLB holding international games in Europe.
“A Bunch of Nonsense”
“This is the NFL and baseball. The idea that you are going to create new fanbases because you put your games in Europe is a bunch of nonsense. Does baseball actually think that anybody from Liverpool rolled down to Wembley last week to watch the Cardinals and the Cubs for a two-game series? Are you serious? And next year they’re bringing the Mets and the Phillies. Same thing. Nobody in England cares about baseball!”
“And nobody in London cares about the Jacksonville Jaguars! This idea that there’s a bunch of Europeans who are all revved up to see their American football in London, Frankfurt, is a bunch of nonsense!”
Russo seems to be alone on this sentiment, as the NFL is consistently expanding its international games repertoire. In 2023, there will be a total of five overseas games, up from two in 2021 and four in 2022. Clearly, the demand is there in Europe. MLB appears to have taken notice and jumped on the bandwagon.
