Interleague games refresh MLB's outlook in Mexico

The possibility of watching Major League Baseball (MLB) teams play across Mexico is becoming more widespread with the attention received by one particular product: interleague games.

These are games pitting MLB teams against those from the Mexican Baseball League (LMB). In the last two years, this has resulted in a total of 85,243 tickets sold between Mexico City and Monterrey, following the games between the Diablos Rojos and the New York Yankees, as well as the Boston Red Sox and the Sultanes.

"These games have been a pleasant surprise for us. We've really liked the flavor and enjoyment the fans get from watching their LMB team against MLB teams. We believe this could be a product we can exploit very well," Rodrigo Fernández, director of the MLB office in Mexico, shared with El Economista.

While there are precedents of matches between MLB and LMB teams dating back to the 1960s, more recent matches have featured a different marketing strategy and, consequently, greater financial potential.

Fernández estimates that the Yankees and Red Sox's visits to Mexico City and Monterrey between 2024 and 2025, respectively, generated around 1.4 billion pesos in revenue.

The cumulative attendance across four matches between Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium and Walmart Park was 85,243, making them the two largest-capacity venues among the 21 that make up the LMB, and in a pair of key cities.

But the director of MLB's Mexico office admits there's a possibility for other locations to host interleague games, noting that a renewal of Major League Baseball games will begin in Mexico in 2027.

"We work with five-year plans. We'll be finalizing the previous plan in 2026, and we're working on the next five years, which will clearly be announced when they're ready.

“That's what we're working on (for regular-season and preseason games). It's very important for us to be able to go to more and more places, where MLB teams play against LMB teams. We believe that this contributes greatly to fans who may not be as invested in their team in these places actually doing so and seeing that we can do these things against top-level teams.”

Although he clarifies that "there are no cities we have in mind as such," he lists at least seven that have already undergone some type of analysis: Cancún, Mérida, Veracruz, Querétaro, León, Guadalajara, and Tijuana.

They host historic teams such as Tigres, Leones, El Águila, Bravos, and Charros, as well as more recently created teams such as Conspiradores and Toros. However, none of these stadiums has more than 20,000 seats.

“No venue is excluded from this project at this time. Obviously, when the time comes, we'll have to decide which venue we want to host, because we can't cover everything. It's very complicated to host these games logistically, but I think there are many venues that could host this type of game.”

--What will the choice between these places depend on?

-- "I think it's more a fan-centered issue, about how many fans there are in each stadium, the capacity of the stadium itself, and the impact that could have. If we use the example that there are the same number of fans with the same level of baseball passion in two stadiums, but one has a 13,000-seat stadium and the other 8,000, then we'll go with the 13,000-seat stadium because we'd impact more people. That's not the only thing that will determine the decision, but it is a parameter."

For now, Rodrigo Fernández confirms that MLB's 2026 visit will be to Mexico City, without specifying dates, teams, or whether they will be part of the regular season, preseason, or interleague.

"We can't mention the names yet; we'll announce them until we finalize it. For 2026, which is also a busy year because we have the World Classic (WBC), there will only be one series, and it will be in Mexico City."

Mexican fan profile

The Mexican MLB fan base remains at 54 million, Fernández reiterates, a figure that has been maintained over the past 12 months.

What has changed is the average age, dropping from 47 in 2016, when he took over as head of the MLB office in Mexico, to between 32 and 34 currently. However, he believes it is unlikely to continue to decline.

“Getting below that threshold is very difficult. We're making a significant effort to ensure our strategy is always very focused on families and children. We have our product, the MLB Cup, which has been very successful, but getting below that threshold has been difficult for us.”

He emphasizes that they don't have a strategy focused on a single age group, but rather have managed to increase the interest in baseball among new generations through activities like the MLB Clubhouse, including those in more vulnerable socioeconomic groups.

"We've managed to break down the barrier that baseball was, in some ways, a more middle-class sport. It's an expensive sport to play, but we've managed to reach increasingly more popular audiences, which was a priority for us.

"I think we can now consider that it's not just a sport focused on higher-income population groups, but that it's now much more homogeneous, something more similar to soccer," the executive says.

Regarding the states with the largest number of MLB fans, he mentions that the top three are Baja California, Sinaloa, and Mexico City, although he recognizes a significant base in Sonora, Yucatán, Jalisco, Querétaro, and Guanajuato.