The New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers will compete in the 2024 “MLB Little League Classic,” in Williamsport, Pa., as announced by Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. today during the Little League World Series on ABC. The game, which will be held on Sunday, August 18, 2024 and serve as a home contest for the Detroit Tigers, will air nationally that evening exclusively on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” at 7:00 p.m. (ET). The special event, hosted in connection with the Little League Baseball World Series, also will be available on ESPN Radio, the ESPN App and ESPN Deportes.
As is tradition for this annual occasion, Major Leaguers from both the Yankees and Tigers will attend Little League World Series games earlier in the day on August 18th, demonstrating their commitment to helping grow the game at the youth level and engage with young fans. Later that evening, Little League World Series players and their families will fill Muncy Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field for the Little League Classic game.
The Little League Classic was launched in August 2017 between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals. The inaugural event was followed by the Philadelphia Phillies hosting the New York Mets in 2018, the Pirates returning to face the Chicago Cubs in 2019, the Cleveland Guardians facing the Los Angeles Angels in 2021, the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox in 2022, and the Washington Nationals hosting the returning Philadelphia Phillies in this year’s event.
The Little League Baseball® World Series is an international championship tournament for children, ages 10-12, held annually in Williamsport, the headquarters for Little League International. Countries from around the world compete on a global stage each year, with games airing on ESPN, ABC and streamed via the ESPN App. Little League International expanded the pool of teams in 2022, increasing it to 20 total teams.