MLB Strikes Out in Bid to Bring to Baseball to Paris in 2025

When the Summer Olympics arrive in Paris in 2024, skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing and breakdancing will all be part of the competition. Baseball was under consideration to be included, but a ruling by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) knocked America’s Pastime out of contention for Paris 2024. Don’t expect to see baseball in The City of Light the following year either, as MLB has scrapped plans to play regular-season games in Paris in 2025 after failing to find a promoter, according to the Associated Press.

The cancellation, which has not officially been announced by MLB, eliminates plans for a two-games series that was part of the collective bargaining agreement that was approved in March 2022. However, the teams who were going to make the trip to France were never chosen and a suitable venue for the two-game set was never found, leading to the plan to be scrapped outright. “The people familiar with the decision said it became apparent in recent months that no progress was being made to make the games work financially,” per the AP. Unlike the NFL, NBA and NHL, MLB has never played a game on continental Europe.

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MLB did have success playing in London in 2019 when the Red Sox and Yankees made the trip across the pond, and a Cardinals and Cubs series this past June was also a hit. The Mets and Phillies are scheduled to play in England next June 8 and 9. The 2024 season will also travel to two other countries for regular-season games, as the Astros and Rockies will play in Mexico City and the Dodgers and Padres will open the season in Seoul, South Korea. The Red Sox and Rays will also play spring training games in the Dominican Republic.

While baseball will not be played in the 2024 Paris Olympics, it is expected to be reinstated for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Baseball was a full part of the Olympic program for the 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Games, but the IOC voted to eliminate the game from the 2012 and 2016 Olympics before reinstating it for the 2020 Tokyo Games.