The Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals were set to play in London this June, but the COVID-19 outbreak and the uncertainty about the 2020 baseball season and schedule forced those games to be canceled.
The news had been reported by The Sun on March 26, and was practically a foregone conclusion anyway, but MLB made it official on Wednesday.
Information is thin here, but there are some subtleties worth pointing out. First, there are no details on if it will be rescheduled. There are too many uncertainties about baseball’s 2020 schedule and the availability of London Stadium going forward. England’s sports are also on hold and it’s not known when West Ham, the soccer team that plays at London Stadium, might need the stadium in the next couple years with the Premier League schedule also in flux for the foreseeable future.
Also, the wording in MLB’s announcement is canceled and not postponed. That doesn’t make it seem like there are plans to reschedule this. Even if they want to reschedule more games in London, it is a difficult time to plan a big event in a foreign country.
The games were originally scheduled for June 13 and 14. Last year, the Red Sox and Yankees played in London and the contract called for two years of games in London.