Major League Baseball will stage regular season games between the Boston Red Sox and N.Y. Yankees in London next June, according to Steve Menary of THE NATIONAL. MLB's expansion "could soon include the Middle East." MLB Exec VP for Product Marketing Chris Park said, "We are observing interest in recent years in potential partners in the Middle East to do various activities and are looking carefully at opportunities and expect to become more active there." With around 50,000 American expats in the UAE, according to a '15 estimate by BQ Magazine, the sport has a "natural foothold." According to Nielsen Sports SDNA research, 14% of respondents aged 16-69 in the UAE said that they were interested in baseball in '17. In '16, the L.A. Dodgers signed a deal to sponsor the Dubai Little League in conjunction with Emirates Airline. Dodgers Chief Marketing Officer & Exec VP Lon Rosen said, "We look at baseball as a global sport. We look at different countries around the world and Emirates brought this opportunity to us; the more people who buy our brand the better." In L.A., Emirates has home plate and foul pole signage at Dodgers games along with a hospitality lounge. An Emirates spokesperson said, "This was a historic partnership as it is Emirates’ first major league team sponsorship in the U.S." Baseball has a long history in the region. Little League was first staged in Saudi Arabia in '56 (THE NATIONAL, 6/21).
