MLB's Paul Archey Says Games In Australia Not A "One-Time Thing"

The Dodgers and D-Backs early Saturday morning will kick off their season-opening series in Australia, where baseball has been played since the 19th century but "doesn't crack the top 10 sports in terms of popularity." MLB Senior VP/Int'l Operations Paul Archey said, "We don't see this as a one-time thing. ... We don't want to just play in the baseball hotbeds of Japan or Taiwan, Korea of Latin America – we want to play in developing baseball markets" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/21).

The L.A. TIMES' Dylan Hernandez notes the country's "interest in baseball is minimal." The 40,000-seat Sydney Cricket Ground was "largely empty" for Thursday's exhibition between the Dodgers and a team of Australian all-stars. MLB was "paid by a promoter to open its season in Sydney," but Archey said that "that wasn't the league's motive." Archey said, "This is about the future. It's about delivering the market for bigger business and it's about developing the market for more players" (L.A. TIMES, 3/21).