Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu will host MLB regular season games again in 2024 when the Houston Astros play the Colorado Rockies in Mexico City. (Photo: Leif Skodnick/World Baseball Network)
By Matthew Tallarini
World Baseball Network
The 2024 MLB World Tour was announced by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association Wednesday.
London, Mexico City, Seoul, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic during Spring Training will each host two-game series’ in 2024. London and Mexico City will return as host cities for the second consecutive season.
The stadiums where games will be played are Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the home of the Tigres del Licey and Leones del Escogido franchises of the Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana; Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City, the home of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol; and London Stadium, the home of the West Ham United Premier League soccer club. A venue in Seoul has yet to be announced.
Seoul has two stadiums that serve as home to three teams in the Korea Baseball Organization. Jamsil Stadium, which is home to the Doosan Bears and LG Twins, is outdoors, though Major League Baseball could also play in the Gocheok Sky Dome, which hosted a pool round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
This Seoul Series will be the first time Major League Baseball has hosted a regular season game in South Korea. The Seoul Series will be the ninth time that Major League Baseball has started the regular season outside of the United States and Canada.
The last time the Dominican Republic hosted a Spring Training game was on March 7, 2020, when the Detroit Tigers took on the Minnesota Twins at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal shortly before the COVID-19 Pandemic shut down baseball.
The Dodgers and the Padres are playing each other outside of the United States for the second time. The first time was a three-game series at Estadio Beisbol de Monterrey from May 4-6 of the 2018 regular season.
The Padres played against the Mets during the 1996 season in MLB’s first international regular season series.
The Padres will play in their fifth international regular season series, the most of any Major League team, when they take the field on opening day 2024 in Seoul.
Major League Baseball and the Major League Players Association agreed to schedule up to 24 regular season games and 16 Spring Training contests spreading throughout Latin America, Asia, and Europe over the course of the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement, which expires after the 2026 regular season.
Major League Baseball and the Major League Players Association also formed the World Tour program during negotiations for the Collective Bargaining Agreement during the offseason and work stoppage of March 2022.
Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, will also host a neutral site game between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants on June 24, 2024.
MLB also plans to have a regular season series in Paris during 2025.
2024 MLB World Tour Sites
Dominican Republic Series: Red Sox vs. Rays, March 9-10 (Spring Training)
Seoul Series: Dodgers vs. Padres, March 20-21 (MLB Season Opener)
Mexico City Series: Astros vs. Rockies, April 27-28
London Series: Mets vs. Phillies, June 8-9
MLB Future International Game Sites Approved In Collective Bargaining Agreement
2025 – Tokyo, Paris, San Juan
2026 – Mexico, London, San Juan
International Major League Opening Day Regular Season Series
1999 – Colorado Rockies vs. San Diego Padres – Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico
2000 – New York Mets vs. Chicago Cubs – Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
2001 – Texas Rangers vs. Toronto Blue Jays -Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2004 – Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees – Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
2008 – Boston Red Sox vs. Oakland A’s – Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
2012 – Oakland A’s vs. Seattle Mariners – Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
2014 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks – Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia
2019 – Oakland A’s vs. Seattle Mariners – Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan