The Major League Baseball (MLB) London Series, Trafalgar Square Takeover, was a three-day baseball extravaganza, taking place from the 23rd to the 25th of June.
We once again partnered with MLB on this celebration of baseball, creatively responsible for curating and crafting the fan festival experience.
At the heart of the experience sat ‘Home Run Derby X The Cage’, a brand new immersive digital baseball experience. The Cage gave visitors the chance to hit home runs in Trafalgar Square in a dimension-defying new baseball game blending real life and virtual gameplay using the latest ball tracking technology. Located within an epic cage structure, players hit physical baseballs which were digitally visualised across the iconic London skyline, reaching Nelson’s column and beyond.
The interactive nature of this offered a memorable adventure for the new generation of baseball enthusiasts. Opening the London Series weekend on June 23, the showcase match up featured teams of MLB Legends, Superstars, and Big Hitters, representing the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees and St Louis Cardinals, all competing to be crowned Home Run Derby X The Cage Champions.
As well as MLB Legends, other famous faces and big names from the sporting world will take their turn in The Cage over the course of the weekend in explosive 3v3 matchups. The Trafalgar Square Takeover amplified fan engagement and provided a high-energy live experience offering unique opportunities for digital storytelling.
The free-to-attend experience played out over three days, during which visitors were able to watch the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs play out their 130-year rivalry on UK soil via a live screening on three large outdoor screens.
Set in one of the capital’s most iconic locations the event was free to attend and open to everyone on a first come, first served basis.
Rob Day, Business Director, Imagination said: “The MLB London Series ‘Trafalgar Square Takeover’ is the latest in a series of high-octane in-person MLB fan engagements, a testament to the ever increasing appetite for live cultural experiences. We’re extremely proud of our partnership with MLB and relish the opportunity to work with such brave clients who consistently want to challenge the status quo and defy conventions by reimagining new fan experiences.
The ‘Trafalgar Square Takeover’ is a fusion of experience and culture, an authentic celebration of baseball – featuring the latest baseball experience, Home Run Derby X ‘ The Cage’ at its heart. This festival represents the latest collaboration in an eight year partnership, collectively striving to push the boundaries of fan engagement by blending physical and digital fan experiences.”
Ben Ladkin, Managing Director, MLB Europe said: “There will be no missing the MLB London Series when it returns for the first time since 2019. Taking over Trafalgar Square, an iconic London venue, is the perfect representation of the coming together of this uniquely American sport with a growing UK fanbase. Whether you are an existing fan or a total novice, the event – featuring challenges, big screens, global stars and the full ballpark food experience – will have something for you. We’re sure that many fans for life will be created over the course of this unmissable weekend.”
Imagination has been working with MLB since 2016 on developing new baseball formats, with a number of different experiential activities helping the league to test, learn and iterate. Previous events include Europe’s first-ever Home Run Derby (2017), and London Yards (2019) – which ran alongside the historic London Series, redefining the fan experience and captivating new markets and audiences – and Home Run Derby X in 2022.
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