The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will begin the 2024 regular season by playing a pair of games in Seoul, South Korea, Major League Baseball announced on Wednesday. The games, set for March 20 and 21 of next year, will be the first regular-season games ever played in Korea.
This will mark the ninth time an MLB regular season has opened internationally. The last time was in 2019, when the Seattle Mariners and Oakland A's began that regular season in Tokyo.
Notably, Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim starred in the Korea Baseball Organization with the Nexen/Kiwoon Heroes franchise from 2014-20 and is one of the country's most popular players.
The venture into Korea is part of broader effort to bring the game abroad. In addition to the games in Seoul, the Colorado Rockies and Houston Astros will play a two-game set in Mexico City on April 27 and 28. The London Series will also be renewed in 2024, as the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies will meet in a pair of games on June 8-9. Additionally, the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox will play two spring-training games at Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on March 9 and 10.
"Major League Baseball is incredibly excited for this extensive slate of international games in 2024," Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement Wednesday. "Our recent efforts have produced strong enthusiasm around the globe and we look forward to building on that foundation with returns to Mexico City and London, while also opening the season in Korea for the first time. In addition, we can't wait to celebrate the tradition of the sport in the Dominican Republic with our visit to Santo Domingo next March. We are thrilled that our fans across four different countries outside the United States and Canada will have the opportunity to see the game's stars."
As part of the new collective bargaining agreement, MLB and the MLBPA agreed to play more regular-season games overseas -- up to a total of 24 regular-season games and 16 exhibitions through the 2026 season. To date, MLB has played regular-season games in Australia, London, Mexico City, Puerto Rico, and Tokyo. In addition to Korea, the league in coming years has talked about plans to play regular season games in Paris.
