DUBAI: A record three million viewers watched the three-game UAE Series between the Arabia Wolves and the Mid East Falcons last weekend, Baseball United has announced.
The series was carried by 17 linear and digital broadcast partners and drew viewers from more than 100 countries including the US, Canada, Mexico, Japan, France, the UK, Italy, Australia, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Saudi Arabia, making it the most-watched baseball event in the history of the region.
The series marked the first time the Wolves and the Falcons — the league’s two UAE-based franchises — took the field. The Dubai-based Wolves won all three games, including a close 5-4 victory in Sunday’s finale.
The series was hosted at Baseball United’s new ballpark at The Sevens sports and entertainment complex in Dubai and was a complete sellout. The modular seating currently accommodates 3,000 fans, with plans to scale up to 10,000 for future events.
“We are truly grateful to reach another set of milestones on our journey toward building the region’s next great sport,” said Kash Shaikh, chairman, CEO and co-founder of Baseball United, the first professional baseball league focused on the Middle East and Indian subcontinent.
“This past weekend, we put two of our franchises on the field for the first time. We had several of the world’s best baseball players playing for the first time at our new ballpark. We sold out each night. We reached millions of new fans on social media. And we had a record number of broadcast partners and viewers. And, of course, we had three great games of high-quality baseball. We couldn’t have scripted it any better. I’m very thankful to all of our partners, and very proud of our Baseball United team.”
The Arabia Wolves won the opening game 6-5, with left-fielder Courtney Hawkins hitting a solo home run to provide the difference. Brian Schlitter, who previously played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics, and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Saitama Seibu Lions, got the win.
On Saturday night, the Wolves ran away with an 11-0 victory behind a dominant pitching performance from starter Cameron Gann. Gann pitched five innings and struck out nine for the win. Wolves prospect Ernest Ohandza, the first professional baseball player in the history of Cameroon, struck out the final batter to end the night.
Sunday night was another close affair, with the Falcons mounting a late rally to turn a four-run deficit into a one-run game. Local prospect Lorenzo Riddle got the win for the hometown Wolves, with Connor Panas and Didi Gregorius both going deep for the red and black. Panas was originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015, and Gregorius spent 11 years in MLB, including five as the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees.
The teams were managed by game veterans John McLaren (Wolves) and Dennis Cook (Falcons), while future baseball hall of famer Albert Pujols was part of the pregame ceremonies and served as the broadcast analyst for all three games.
Baseball United built its new ballpark in just 38 days last year. Since then it has hosted the largest international amateur baseball tournament in the history of the region, the Arab Classic, along with this past weekend’s inaugural professional games. The league will be on hiatus during Ramadan and the summer months, returning to action in October.
