"Emerging like a mirage in the desert outskirts of Dubai, a sight unfamiliar to those in the Middle East and Asia has risen up like a dream in the exact dimensions of the field at Yankee Stadium in New York. Now that it's built, though, one question remains: Will the fans come? That's the challenge for the inaugural season of Baseball United, a four-team, monthlong contest that will begin Friday at the new Barry Larkin Field,"
"And while having no big-name players from Major League Baseball, the league has created some of its own novel rules to speed up games and put more runs on the board - and potentially generate interest for U.S. fans as the regular season there has ended. "People here got to learn the rules anyway so we're like if we get to start at a blank canvas then why don't we introduce some new rules that we believe are going to excite them from the onset," Baseball United CEO and co-owner Kash Shaikh told The Associated Press."
A four-team Baseball United league will hold a monthlong inaugural season at a newly built Barry Larkin Field in Dubai's desert, with the field matching Yankee Stadium dimensions. The season begins Friday and ends mid-December, with all games at Ud al-Bayda on artificial turf designed for extreme heat. Teams include the Mumbai Cobras and Karachi Monarchs, featuring Indian and Pakistani players aiming to enter a market dominated by soccer and cricket. The league lacks major MLB stars but has introduced novel rules to speed games and increase scoring. Attendance and fan interest in the region remain uncertain.
Read at Fast Company
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