The link between Mexico and the Major Leagues (MLB) gained strength again this year as a result of the Mexico City Series 2023 (to be held on April 29 and 30 at the Alfredo Harp Helú stadium), which mark the first time that Mexico City will host official matches of said organization and the return of MLB to Mexican soil after four years.
However, this event also serves to put on the table other projects that Mexico would like to develop together with MLBsuch as bringing more games in the year to different places in the country and even hosting a franchise that competes in said league outside the United States, as the Blue Jays already do in Toronto, Canada.
“For the United States and particularly for entities like the NFL, MLB and NBA, I see no way to be able to debate that Mexico is its second most important market after the domestic one. It is a market that clearly represents a lot for them in terms of reach, sales and royalties for hats, jerseys and many other reasons. It is part of the attractiveness of Mexico as a country for these international leagues,” emphasizes Horacio De la Vega, president of the Mexican Baseball League (LMB), in an interview with The Economist.
De la Vega is one of the authorized voices to decipher what the return of the Major Leagues to Mexico means, since he was responsible for obtaining the first contract for MLB to play an unprecedented regular season game in Mexico City in 2018, although, finally, due to infrastructure problems in the Alfredo Harp stadium, the event had to be moved to Monterrey.
With this background and with the success of achieving that the LMB has grown its income by 700% under his administration, the leader confirms to this newspaper that Mexico is ready to receive more Major League games during the year and in other latitudes that are not only the most confluent cities, such as Mexico City or Monterrey.
“For MLB preseason games, there are many stadiums that already fully meet the requirements to be venues. I see that in stadiums like the recently remodeled one in Tabasco (Centenario 27 de febrero, home of the Olmecas), in Quintana Roo (Parque Beto Ávila, home of the Tigres) and in Yucatán (Kukulkán, home of the Lions), there are several that They’re starting to get that far. None of them are going to reach the 22,000 spectators that MLB requests (for the regular season), they are stadiums with between 10,000 and 15,000 spectators, but I think that would be a good number to bring preseason games.
The president of the LMB recalls that the capacity of more than 20,000 attendees was an important requirement of the Major Leagues so that the Alfredo Harp stadium could receive its official matches, that is why that venue increased its seats when initially they were intended for 15,000.
However, other stadiums with small capacities such as Fray Nano and Parque Delta received MLB exhibition and preseason matches in previous years, which allows us to glimpse that southeastern places such as Tabasco, Quintana Roo and Yucatán, as well as Monterrey, Ciudad de México and Guadalajara, may be on the Major League itinerary soon.
“Yes, it is something we could do, although it would be a matter even between four instances: state governments, the local team, the LMB and MLB. Such an operation could lead to continuing to bring more international games or games of the same level to other places, as is being done now in Mexico City. There are stadiums that begin to meet important requirements to be able to bring MLB games, if not regular season, then preseason, friendlies and so on.
According to directors of the Alfredo Harp stadium and its host club, Diablos Rojos del México, a Major League weekend at its facilities will leave an estimated spill of up to 20 million pesos, while instances such as the Employers’ Confederation of the Republic Mexicana (Coparmex) and the Chamber of Commerce (Canaco) value the general income for the city at more than 1,000 million pesos.
“I have already spoken with the people of MLB Mexico about this. I think this Mexico City Series is a good opportunity to talk with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and tell him what we are willing and what we would like to achieve both as LMB and with this agreement for other places in Mexico. We have the potential, the unprecedented and unusual growth of baseball and I think MLB has to see that. Clearly this event (the series between the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants at the Alfredo Harp Stadium) attests to that growth, but that can also be increased depending on the talks we hold this weekend”, remarks Horacio De la vega.
On the other hand, the president of the LMB adds that Mexico meets the characteristics to host a Major League team, although not immediately. He gives Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner, as an example, who has already talked about this possibility in light of the interest of his product in the country. According to Rodrigo Fernández, director of MLB Latin America, Mexico has 56 million Major League Baseball fans.
_From the perspective of the LMB, does Mexico meet the requirements to host a Major League team?
“I would say no right now, but I clearly see it as having significant potential in the medium to long term, of course it does. If the Blue Jays are in Toronto (Canada), the truth is that I don’t see why we shouldn’t have a solid team here, even thinking about places as important as Monterrey and Mexico City, that is, that it’s not just a place in particular, but that they can have two alternate venues. It is something that can work, but we will see that in the future”.
Horacio De la Vega concludes by extolling the qualities of Mexico as an interesting market for elite sports leagues such as the MLB due to factors such as proximity and economy, as well as the social impact. For this reason, he congratulates Diablos Rojos for closing the negotiation to carry out the Mexico City Series 2023, in which, he clarifies, that the LMB had no interference.
“I wish the organization, which this time is the Diablos Rojos, the Harp family and the entire team that organizes this great event, as well as the Padres and the Giants, much success, that they enjoy Mexico and have a great experience” , he says, about an event that is projected to receive more than 40,000 fans.
