The Long Game: MLB’s Big Bet on the Future of Indian Baseball

India became MLB’s sixth international office after Japan, Mexico, China, the United Kingdom and the Dominican Republic. (Special arrangements) NEW DELHI: When Major League Baseball (MLB) opened its office in India in 2019, it was not the beginning of its journey in India. It was the culmination of a 15-year wait.For Ryo Takahashi, MLB’s director of international business and the man leading its India operations, the timing wasn’t driven by a grand strategic moment or a blockbuster announcement. It was simply when years of conversations finally turned into an official commitment.“People think MLB suddenly discovered India in 2019,” Takahashi said in a free chat with TimesofIndia.com. “The reality is that we discussed India almost 15 years before the office opened. There was no magical reason why it happened in 2019. It was simply when we received approval and could make the commitment official,” he said.Seven years later, MLB’s ambitions in India still look very different from those of most of the world’s sports leagues. There is no plan for a professional franchise, no immediate push for a domestic league, and no obsession with TV ratings. Instead, the league is banking on a seemingly simple idea: if enough kids pick up a baseball, everything else will eventually follow.

NBA, La Liga, Premier League – they have all spent years understanding Indian fans.

Ryo Takahashi | MLB Director of International Business

Learning before launching

India became MLB’s sixth international office after Japan, Mexico, China, the United Kingdom and the Dominican Republic. But unlike those markets, baseball arrived here with almost no cultural footprint. This forced the league to begin by listening rather than selling.“We don’t believe we have all the answers,” Takahashi says. “NBA, La Liga, Premier League – they have all spent years understanding Indian fans. I have friends and colleagues across these organizations and we have learned from their mistakes as much as from their successes,” he added.Rather than copy another league’s schedule, MLB decided to create its own Indian version: one focused on schools, local coaching and local storytelling. Since 2019, it has implemented the First Pitch program in schools in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, launched the MLB Cup youth tournament and produced documentaries focusing on India to make baseball feel closer.

Starting in 2019, MLB India introduced the First Pitch program in schools in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru and launched the MLB Cup youth tournament. (Special arrangements)

Ask Takahashi when India will produce its first Major League player, and he gently dismisses the premise.“People ask us when India will produce MLB players. That’s the wrong starting point,” he says. “If one out of every hundred kids who try baseball decides to keep playing, that’s a victory. In a country the size of India, one percent becomes a very big number.”For MLB, the primary currency is attendance, not the pursuit of elite talent.“Our responsibility is to create opportunities. Whether that kid ends up playing for an MLB club or simply falls in love with baseball, both outcomes help grow the sport,” he reasoned.

Cricket is not our competitor. In fact, it may be our greatest asset

Ryo Takahashi

This thinking explains why MLB measures success through expanding coaching networks, more schools accepting baseball and the remarkable growth of the MLB Cup, which has evolved from just 12 teams in its inaugural edition to a national youth competition involving thousands of participants.

Cricket is not the enemy

Conventional wisdom says that cricket makes life impossible for other bat and ball sports. Takahashi claims otherwise.“Cricket is not our competitor. In fact, it may be our biggest advantage,” he says. “Indian children are already growing up throwing, catching and hitting the ball. Those athletic fundamentals are already there,” he explained.He watched six-year-olds experience baseball for the first time and noticed how naturally many adjusted.“We don’t have to teach them how to throw, just show them a different game.”

Former India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav recently attended an MLB match in the US. (Special arrangements)

MLB’s goal is not to replace cricket, but to borrow from its ecosystem. Familiar motions shorten the learning curve, making baseball feel less foreign than many assume.

Broadcast Paradox

The biggest obstacle to baseball in India is not awareness itself. It’s the clock.Most MLB games are played in the wee hours of the morning for Indian audiences, creating what Takahashi calls a classic chicken-and-egg problem.Even though it has a broadcasting partnership with JioStar, it knows that the league’s target audience is not awake.

An eight-year-old probably isn’t holding the TV remote at that time. So maybe today’s player will become tomorrow’s spectator. That’s the path we’re trying to build.

Ryo Takahashi

“We want kids to watch baseball, become curious, and then play,” he says. “But our games are often at two or three in the morning in India.“An eight-year-old probably isn’t holding a TV remote at that time. So maybe today’s player becomes tomorrow’s viewer. That’s the path we’re trying to build.”That’s why MLB sees broadcasting as supporting the locals rather than replacing them. A child introduced to baseball in school today may become an adult broadcasting the World Series ten years from now.

Suryakumar Yadav tries his hand at baseball. (Special arrangements)

Why doesn’t MLB build stadiums

Perhaps Takahashi’s most counterintuitive belief concerns infrastructure. While many emerging sports demand equipment first, MLB believes demand must precede concrete.“People often say India needs baseball stadiums first,” he says. “We actually think it works the other way around. First you create the players, then you create the demand, and finally the infrastructure follows.”He points to countless sports cultures where children develop elite skills using improvised equipment and open spaces.“Kids don’t need a perfect baseball diamond to learn baseball. Skills take precedence over stadiums.”India already has cricket pitches, football pitches and school grounds. That’s enough for now.

If by 2031, baseball has become a part of everyday sports conversations in India, we’ve done our job.

Ryo Takahashi

Over Nine Innings: Enter MLBX

This philosophy extends to MLB’s largest fan-focused initiative to date. Scheduled for October 24 in Mumbai, MLBX is not designed to be a traditional baseball tournament. It’s a festival. Heading to Mumbai Football Arena, Andheri Sports Complex, for MLBX are legends New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, two-time defending champions Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs.“We asked ourselves: cricket has evolved from Test matches to T20, football to futsal – what is the baseball version of that for India? MLBX is our answer,” says Takahashi.The format features shorter games, compact fields, home contests, musical performances and food inspired by classic American ballparks with Indian flavors. Baseball remains the focus, but culture is the hook.Neither the format nor the tournament itself is new. MLBX is a 3-on-3 mixed baseball competition that combines power hitting, athletic defensive plays and fastball. The competition appeared during MLB All-Star Week in Philadelphia. The event has taken place in 15 US locations over the past three years, as well as internationally in London, Seoul and Mexico City.“It’s not just about games,” Takahashi says. “It’s domestic competitions, music, food, culture and fun. We want someone to leave Mumbai saying it was fun…now let me learn more about baseball.”He says the partnership with former India T20I captain and Mumbai Indians player Suryakumar Yadav has already generated a noticeable increase in enquiries, reinforcing MLB’s belief that working with cricket opens doors rather than closes them.

A future where his job disappears

Takahashi smiles when asked where he wants baseball to be in India by 2031. “My dream is to do such a good job that I become unemployed,” he says, almost smiling.The answer is less about personal ambition than about institutional success. He envisions an India with thousands more kids playing baseball, a true national talent pipeline, an active Indian national team, and maybe even baseball if India hosts the 2036 Olympics.“If by 2031, baseball is part of the everyday sports conversation in India, we’ve done our job,” he says.For a league often associated with crowded American stadiums and century-old rivalries, India’s MLB strategy is surprisingly patient. His biggest victory may not be selling out the stadium. It could be as simple as persuading one kid on the school playground to trade a cricket bat for a baseball bat.