Although a plan to play 2025 regular-season Major League Baseball (MLB) games in Mexico for a third consecutive year has not panned out, Mexican fans will have an opportunity in March to see a Major League team play here: the Boston Red Sox have committed to a two-game exhibition series on March 24-25 in Monterrey, Nuevo León.
After the Boston Red Sox conclude their 2025 spring training schedule in Fort Meyers, Florida, they will pay a visit to the Mexican Baseball League team, the Monterrey Sultans (Sultanes de Monterrey), the Red Sox announced via social media.
The Sox will play the Sultans in the Sultans’ home stadium, Monterrey’s Estadio Mobil Super.
The Boston Herald newspaper reported that the Red Sox will fly from Fort Meyers to Monterrey ahead of their March 27 season opener against the Texas Rangers.
The Sultans are one of the Mexican League’s Big Three, with 10 championships under their belts, behind only the Mexico City Diablos Rojos (17) and the Quintana Roo Tigres (12).
Monterrey’s Sultans have faced Major League baseball teams before.
In 1991, they hosted a three-game series featuring MLB teams the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, as well as the Industriales de Monterrey (a Mexican Baseball League team that folded in 1994).
The Sultans defeated the Brewers 6-5.
Two years later, in 1993, the city hosted another round-robin series featuring the Monterrey team against the Atlanta Braves, the Minnesota Twins and the Industriales. The Sultanes lost 3-2 to the Braves.
In 2008, the Sultans traveled to Phoenix to face the Arizona Diamondbacks, losing 9-4.
According to MLB.com, Monterrey’s Estadio Mobil Super, the largest baseball stadium in Mexico, has hosted five MLB regular-season series, including the first-ever regular-season game outside of the United States or Canada. They are:
- April 16-18, 1996: San Diego Padres vs New York Mets, three games
- April 4, 1999: San Diego Padres vs Colorado Rockies, one game
- May 4-6, 2018: San Diego Padres vs Los Angeles Dodgers, three games
- April 13-14, 2019: Cincinnati Reds vs St. Louis Cardinals, two games
- May 4-5, 2019: Houston Astros vs Los Angeles Angels, two games
As regular-season exhibition games, the Red Sox-Sultanes games are not part of the MLB International Series, which has featured over 200 international games in 11 different countries and territories.
Mexico City’s Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú hosted the MLB International Series each of the past two seasons in 2023 and 2024, as well as a two-game exhibition series between the New York Yankees and the hometown team, the Diablos Rojos (Red Devils) in March 2024.
With reports from The Boston Herald and ESPN
