The Major League Baseball (MLB) has decided to suspend plans to play regular season games in Mexico City and San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the 2025 season. This announcement was made after a meeting of team owners, where the commissioner Rob Manfred He explained that, despite efforts to reach agreements, it was not possible to establish favorable economic conditions to hold the games in these cities.
Despite this setback, the MLB schedule for 2025 maintains a series of major international events. The season will start on March 18 and 19 with two games in Tokyo, between the Los Angeles Dodgers, led by Shohei Ohtani, and the Chicago Cubs. This opening series in Japan marks a significant milestone within the league’s global commitment.
The collective bargaining agreement signed in 2022 also provided for games in Mexico City in May, the first in Paris in June, and others in San Juan in September. However, regarding plans for Mexico City and San Juan, Manfred stressed that, despite the cancellation for 2025, “we would like to go to San Juan, what is available changes year by year, I hope everything works out in the future”. The MLB played at the Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium in Mexico City in 2023 and 2024.
Regarding the games scheduled for Paris in 2023, the MLB also had to cancel due to the lack of a local promoter. In the case of San Juan, the league held 49 regular season games at Hiram Bithorn Stadium between 2001 and 2018, and the 2020 games were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Manfred stressed that the MLB maintains its interest in continuing with its long-term international strategy, saying: “I am sure that we will return during the term of this agreement,” referring to its employment contract valid until 2026. The commissioner also assured that Tokyo will be one of the league’s top commercial priorities in the near future, given the important market it represents for the sport.
The MLB collective bargaining agreement, which runs through the 2026 season, includes plans for games in Mexico City in May of that year, London in June, and San Juan in September, keeping expectations alive. of future international events in these destinations.
