I was in the crowd for the 2024 London Series, and the atmosphere felt like nothing else in British sport. The 108,956 fans who packed in over two days weren’t watching politely — they were genuinely invested, singing, cheering, losing their minds over a diving catch in the outfield. Around 71% of that crowd were UK residents, which tells you something profound about where baseball stands in this country. It’s no longer a curiosity. It’s becoming a passion — and with passion comes betting interest.
History and Growth of the London Series
MLB first brought regular-season games to London in 2019, and Chris Marinak, the league’s Chief Operations and Strategy Officer, has called the UK “a priority market and an area that we plan to emphasis for international growth of Major League Baseball.” The league wasn’t just testing the water. They were building infrastructure.
The numbers tell the growth story better than any mission statement. Cumulatively, the London Series has attracted approximately 337,000 spectators since 2019. Merchandise sales in the UK surged 43% after the 2023 series. MLB’s UK social media channels saw a 133% spike in followers. The 2024 series alone contributed an estimated 67 million pounds to London’s economy — a figure that makes the business case for continued investment unarguable.
Beyond London, the World Baseball Classic has further amplified international interest. The 2026 WBC drew 1,619,839 spectators — a 24% increase over the previous record set in 2023 — signalling that global appetite for competitive baseball is growing far beyond the American borders that traditionally defined the sport. Commissioner Rob Manfred has called the WBC “a springboard for the rest of our international efforts,” and that momentum feeds directly into events like the London Series. For UK bettors, this international growth translates into expanded markets and deeper liquidity at bookmakers who see the demand curve rising.
Betting on London Series Games
The London games create a unique betting environment that doesn’t map neatly onto a standard regular-season game. I approach them differently, and here’s why.
First, the venue is effectively neutral. Neither team is playing at their home ballpark, so home-field advantage — which typically adds a small but real edge to the home team — is neutralised. The temporary field at the London stadium has its own quirky dimensions that differ from every MLB park, making historical park factor data irrelevant. This means you’re handicapping almost purely on pitching matchups and lineup quality, stripped of the environmental factors that normally play a role.
Second, jet lag matters. Both teams travel across the Atlantic, but the disruption hits individual players differently. Some adjust quickly; others look sluggish for the first few at-bats. I’ve noticed that the team that arrives earlier in the week tends to perform slightly better, though the sample size of London games is still too small for definitive conclusions. Watch for press reports about team arrival schedules — they’re published in the days before the series and can inform your lean.
There’s a related angle worth considering: how each team manages its rotation around the London trip. Some clubs treat it as a mini all-star break and reset their pitching staff. Others maintain their regular rotation and accept the disruption. A team that strategically lines up its ace for the London games — knowing the international audience and the significance of the event — is making a statement about how seriously they take the matchup, and that information feeds into the line.
Third, the start times are different. London games kick off in the afternoon BST — a massive change from the midnight-or-later start times UK bettors are used to for MLB. This means live betting is actually practical for once. You can watch the game on your sofa at 2 PM on a Saturday and react to in-play developments in real time, rather than squinting at a phone screen at 1 AM. The live betting markets for London games are typically deeper than for regular-season games at UK bookmakers because of the daytime scheduling and enhanced public interest.
The London Series as a Gateway to MLB Betting
Interest in baseball among British sports fans has grown from 4% in 2019 to 5.9% by 2023 — and the London Series has been the primary catalyst. That growth is accelerating rather than levelling off, partly because each series introduces tens of thousands of new fans to the sport who then continue following it through the regular season.
For the UK betting market, this matters commercially. Andrew Rhodes, CEO of the UK Gambling Commission, has noted that operators are seeing a “widening out of the sports offering” with American sports like basketball, NFL, and baseball growing in usage. As more UK punters bet on baseball, bookmakers respond with deeper markets — more prop bets, more live betting options, more futures markets. The London Series creates a flywheel: live event generates interest, interest drives betting volume, volume incentivises market depth, depth attracts more bettors.
If you’re reading this because the London Series got you interested in MLB betting, you’re not alone — and you’re entering the sport at a good time. The combination of growing UK market depth, freely available analytical tools, and baseball’s inherently bettor-friendly structure (the lowest hold rate among major sports) creates a more level playing field than you’ll find in football or horse racing. The six-month regular season of 2,430 games provides an enormous sample to develop your skills across, and the London games give you at least two fixtures a year that you can watch live at a reasonable hour. Use them as your annual refresher — a chance to reconnect with the sport visually before diving back into the spreadsheets and line movements that define the rest of the season.
