West Ham's London Stadium is already undergoing a facelift ahead of MLB London 2024. With 100 days to go until the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies go head to head in the London Series on June 8th and 9th, work inside the stadium has begun despite there still being three more months of football of West Ham's season.
In a video published by MLB Europe to begin the countdown to the event, the outside of the stadium is now embroiled with MLB advertising while changes have also been made inside the stadium. The two American-style clubhouse changing rooms, which are now permanent fixtures at the stadium, have had a lick of paint to match the colours of the Mets and the Phillies.
Inside the changing rooms are already the jerseys for both teams ahead of a series that is historically known as the “Battle of Broads.” The sheer size of the “clubhouses” is impressive and they will perhaps leave the West Ham players wondering why they don't have access to such a facility themselves. Each one contains around 50 individual lockers, offices for the coaching staff, tvs and sofas.
It's not just the London Stadium that has experienced a re-brand in preparation for the event. A select number of London taxis have been painted with MLB: London Series branding on them to build interest in the capital ahead of the event in the summer.
MLB London 2024: How the London Stadium will be transformed for baseball
While branding and advertising work can start now, the real work will start as soon as West Ham have played their final home match of the season against Luton Town on May 11th. It will take around 18 days for the stadium to be completely transformed into a baseball field as there is plenty to do.
The pitch will be completely changed with 144,000 square feet of artificial turf to be laid to create a state-of-the-art baseball diamond while extra seats will also be installed around the stadium to increase the capacity and bring fans closer to the action like they are in a typical Baseball match in the USA.
New dugouts will also be built for players and coaches, while you can also expect to see the number of hot dog stands to increase tenfold around the ground. In total, 300 tonnes of clay will be imported from the US to ensure the London Stadium feels and looks like a baseball stadium by the time the Mets and the Phillies walk out in June.