The long-awaited U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB) Seoul series will take place in the evening, the prime time.
The U.S. Major League Baseball secretariat announced the schedule of the official opening game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres in the 2024 season on the 11th (Korea time).
According to the MLB Secretariat, the opening game will take place at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on March 20-21. The game time has been confirmed at 7:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast live across the U.S. through ESPN.
By U.S. local time (after summer time) it is 6:05 a.m. Eastern time and 3:05 a.m. Western time. The time zone is not centered on U.S. fans but for Asian fans including Korea. As it is the opening game to be held in Asia, fans of Korea and Japan are naturally considered important. Accordingly, the time zone is also considered to be the prime time zone in the evening.
While pushing for the globalization of baseball, the MLB Secretariat has created an official brand called the Major League World Tour for games played abroad from 2023. The MLB Secretariat and the players' union said in July last year, "During the 2024 MLB regular season, the MLB World Tour will be held in four countries, including Korea, away from the United States and Canada."
KBO President Heo Gu-yeon, who is playing harder than anyone else, met with MLB Senior Vice President Jim Small at the KBO Baseball Hall in May 2022. At that time, both KBO and MLB discussed ways to strengthen mutual cooperation for baseball globalization, including KBO-MLB Asian Tour Games and ways to host MLB's opening game in Korea.
It is the ninth time that the opening series is held outside of the U.S. and Canada. The opening series was held in Monterrey, Mexico in 1999, Tokyo, Japan in 2000, San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2001, followed by Tokyo, Japan in 2004, 2008 and 2012, Sydney, Australia in 2014, and Tokyo in 2019.
In addition, the opening series of the Major League Baseball will be held in Korea after Japan and Australia in Asia. The MLB Secretariat added that the 2024 season of regular league games will be held not only in Korea but also in Mexico and the U.K.
According to Sports Intelligence Group, which is in charge of MLB's public relations agency, KBO President Heo Gu-yeon said, "We would like to thank MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, Seoul Metropolitan Government and other officials for their efforts to hold the opening game of MLB in Seoul," adding, "We expect it to provide Korean baseball fans with a very special opportunity to watch Major League games in Korea and at the same time serve as a venue for great international exchanges that showcase the passion and culture of Korean baseball fans. We will continue to do our best to promote cooperation with the MLB Secretariat for the development of Korean baseball and provide baseball fans with more diverse events and attractions."
The 2024 MLB World Tour event will be played not only in Seoul, but also in Mexico City and London, where the 2023 MLB regular season game was held. The Houston Astros and the Colorado Rockies will play two games in Mexico City from April 27 to 28, and the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies will play in London, England from June 8-9. Prior to this, the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays will hold spring training practice games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from March 9 to 10. MLB World Tour is a program that presents Major League teams and players directly to fans from various countries around the world and will host up to 24 regular season games and 16 event games in Asia, Mexico, Latin America and Europe from 2023 to 2026.
MLB is very excited as we prepare for the international games to be held in various countries in 2024, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said. "With our recent efforts, strong aspirations for baseball have begun to emerge around the world, and based on that, we are looking forward to the 2024 regular season games, which will be held again in Mexico City and London following 2023, and the season opener in Korea for the first time in history. In addition, I congratulate MLB teams on visiting Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in March to conduct spring training practice games. I am happy to give MLB fans from these four countries an opportunity to meet MLB stars in person."
"We are very happy to have a meaningful MLB game for the first time in Korea in 2024 in front of Korean baseball fans who have great knowledge and passion for baseball," said LA Dodgers President Stan Kasten, who is visiting Korea. "The Dodgers have a proud and long history of helping baseball grow around the world by participating in international away games in Mexico, China and Australia. We are very excited to add Korea to this. Our Dodgers players are very excited to be able to unleash our talent in Korea, which has a rich tradition and talent of baseball, including Korean players who have previously belonged to Dodgers such as Park Chan-ho, Choi Hee-sup, and Ryu Hyun-jin."
San Diego CEO Eric Groopner also said, "I'm very excited to play MLB in Korea for the first time ever. Korea is a really great baseball country with a rich baseball tradition, passionate fans, and outstanding players," adding, "The Padres are proud to participate in the historical 2024 opening series in Korea as a global ambassador with the Dodgers."
