For the first time ever, baseball will be coming to East London, bringing plenty to look forward to this summer.
Two of the most famous sporting franchises, New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, will be battling it out head to head at the London Stadium this upcoming June 29th and 30th.
News of this has definitely been very well received by the public, with tickets selling out almost instantly. Having said that, a minority of fans weren’t happy with the pricing of the tickets, with some reaching an outstanding £320, and £385 for premium seats.
Stir among locals
In comparison to games in the states, the difference in dollars and pounds had proven quite significant, with the cheapest tickets ranging from $5-$20 at the Yankee Stadium in America and tickets starting in the region of £30 here in the UK.
To find out more information on the topic, Rising East spoke to Jack Brown, who runs the biggest UK Yankees twitter account. He voiced his disappointment at the ticket prices.
“They were stupidly overpriced for the general fan, £60 for a seat miles from the action is far too pricey in comparison to an equivalent ticket in the US”.
He did however, appreciate that this could be the start of something big for baseball in the UK:
“Having said that, we are very lucky to get this opportunity of having Major League Baseball in our capital city”.
The future?
Even with the relatively high-ticket prices, demand has been enormous, and there is obviously a lot of scope for the sport to grow in the UK, which Brown also expressed his views on:
“There is so much room for growth of MLB in the UK, we have shown with the NFL and NBA that we are a city and nation that loves top quality sport. It will take time and patience but I’m sure the sport will take off”.
The start of the season has been highly anticipated by fans in London, and with Spring training underway next month, it will lead up to the season opener on the 28th of March, which will see the New York Yankees face off against the Baltimore Orioles, a few months before the grand spectacle here in East London
