The Cubs’ efforts to host the 2027 All-Star Game appear to be “gaining momentum,” writes Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Bruce Levine of 670 The Score reported on Thursday afternoon that the game “will be awarded” to the Cubs later this summer, but a team spokesperson subsequently told reporters that no decision has been finalized.
In any case, it’s clear the Cubs are hoping for the Midsummer Classic to be held at Wrigley Field. Mooney writes that MLB has security concerns around hosting the event in the tightly-packed Wrigleyville neighborhood.
Fran Spielman of The Chicago Sun-Times wrote on Wednesday that an alderman introduced an ordinance in the City Council for an approximate $30MM project to widen the sidewalks and install security bollards around the stadium. If approved, the Cubs would pay at least $8MM, while the state of Illinois would contribute $12MM and the city would pay no more than $10MM. That plan is not conditional on the Cubs hosting the All-Star Game but would seemingly strengthen their bid for the festivities.
Wrigley Field has hosted the All-Star Game on three occasions, most recently in 1990. (The game was last held in Chicago at the White Sox’s home park in 2003.) This year’s festivities will be at Atlanta’s Truist Park, while the 2026 game will be at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia as part of the celebration of the Declaration of Independence’s 250th anniversary. MLB typically announces the host cities two years in advance — though the Philadelphia game was decided long before that. Commissioner Rob Manfred said in February 2024 that the Cubs and Blue Jays were under consideration for future hosting assignments.
I’m trying to think of something I’m less interested in than the All-Star Game, and especially that stupid Home Run Contest. Maybe the agricultural economy of Uzbekistan, something like that? No, that interests me more.
When the Cubs do get the ASG, it will at least provide a thrill for the Aggressive Moron, Brett Taylor, to warm the cockles of his heart in his declining years. That’s something, I guess. Not much.
Lot of words for someone so disinterested. Uzbekistan’s biggest agricultural export is cotton.
Spoiler alert!
Cotton, it’s what’s for dinner.
Oops, I confused the ‘Beef, it’s what’s for dinner’ and the ‘Cotton, the fabric of our lives’ marketing campaigns. Apologies.
“Cotton, it’s what’s for dinner.”
Milo Minderbinder has entered the chat.
Bart
Cotton is on a different thread.
Or beef is the fabric of our lives
Yeah the home run derby is ruined last years made 2023 look good, and 23’s derby wasnt that fun
24 was cursed after the drunk national anthem as the players could barely make 2nd deck shots
At least the all star game is still fun but the home run derby is dying like the nba all star game
I can easily think of 2 things I am less interested in: NBA and NFL.
@Redstitch108* 2
you can just say what you *really* want to say, you know…
Some of us just aren’t interested in those sports, you didn’t have to imply there’s a racial bias.
That’s a bush league point of view Skippy.
I hate hate HATE hockey…does that meet with your approval?
Of course I hate the Cubs even more than I hate hockey….
Glad to know. Personally I don’t even watch playoff NBA that game and its rules have changed so much I don’t recognize a sport I once loved. Check out some NBA ratings especially in the regular season maybe im not alone
I went to one all-star game in person and it was fun. I hope they have it at Wrigley Field. I do find the home run derby sort of boring.
Geography and economics are both significantly more interesting than anything that happens all-star weekend, I fear.
It’s hilarious how bitter you are that they banned you over at Bleacher Nation. It’s not Brett Taylor’s fault you’re so negative. Have you considered Bleed Cubbie Blue? Or is Al Yellon too ‘sunshine and lollipops’ for you? As always, we await developments.
I must have the right person muted because these responses that have popped up for me are wild.
I think Yellon is OK, but a little superficial. Brett banned me because he misunderstood one of my posts as a homophobic slur; he literally misread it, that is mistook one word for another. I don’t hate him for that or hate him at all; I just think his approach is unserious and his writing style is cringingly cutesy. He’s not the proverbial sharpest knife in the drawer. And sure, he needs to make money– but selling out to an ambulance chaser? That is unusually lame.
Thanks for letting us know. Important info. We will see if we can get it cancelled. Sorry to have bothered you. I feel really sad you were legally obligated to comment om this.
As a regular bleacher nation commenter myself, let me just say thank you…
To Brett for banning you
Thanks for letting us know. You apparently feel you are somehow a special person because you wasted ten minutes reading and then stupidly commenting on something you care nothing about. You seem like a real fun guy.
Coors Field should probably be the permanent home of the All Star Game. They lead the league in meaningless games every year anyway. Adding one more wouldn’t hurt anything.
Plus, the home run derby would be a true slug fest! I haven’t watched an All-Star game in ages, and even if it comes to Chicago, still won’t care.
Especially if the wind is blowing out. Mid summer it’s muggy as hell in Chicago. The ball will carry more. Someone might hit the video board in LF.
White Sox would like a word with you
How about the Field of Dreams?
This is long overdue.
It does seem that way
As much as I want the ASG at Wrigley, I think Illinois and the Chicago could and should use their $22M total contributions for other needs. Let Ricketts pony up the full $30M fee for the fixes.
Grump and Manfred will have something to say about this shortly.
Let’s have a fan vote on who has to sit behind the support beams. Would love cutaway shots of Manfred leaning around to see the field. And make basket dingers only count for half in the HR derby.
You dont think the relatively small investment isnt worth the revenue it will generate for Chicago, and Illinois??
And if Ricketts were able to “pony up”, then he should reap ALL the benefits, not just ticket sales etc.. Right?
Are you under the impression that the only source of money for the Cubs is ticket sales?
Thats NOT what I said. I said “ticket sales ETC ”
The city and state stand to earn somewhere in the neighborhood of $300,000 million. The Cubs are “ponying up” 1/3 of the expense. With the state and city 1/3 a piece. Its a win win for everyone.
Its Econ 101.
Don’t try explaining it. They’ll never get it.
No All-Star Game = Ricketts still billionaires, but the City and State, still broke.
$300,000 million = $300B.
You’ve overstated the windfall just a bit.
It wasn’t made up.
No way does the all star game generate anywhere near this level of extra revenue for the city or state. It actually dissuades non baseball tourists so essentially it is break even or worse because of all the extra police overtime etc.
It’s for widening sidewalks and adding security measures.
I guess you feel you should have to pay the entire bill to widen PUBLIC sidewalks in your neighborhood too right?
Toronto is not having the all star game under this administration Manfred would get intimidated immediately
@Butter Biscuits
Toronto has never been a baseball city. I’d like to see the team sold and moved.
Toronto, like most cities, is most definitely a baseball city when the Jays are winning.
@beersy
So, fairweather fans. Yeah, not a baseball city.
Toronto is a baseball city! Whenever the blue jays are in town in Seattle, there’s 2x more Toronto fans as there are Seattle fans!
1990s and 2015 blue jays fans were so pumped it was like all of Canada was supporting them kind of like a World Cup team
Cities right now that aren’t baseball town? Sacramento and Florida (mainly because in Florida the stadium locations there suck for traffic)
I know, only the fourth highest payroll in baseball and ninth in attendance last year.
Gross old stadium
You must be part of the “new” generation. If the Cubs get the game, you can stage one of your “peaceful protests” outside the park.
lowenstein,
What’s an example of a “peaceful protest?” Jan. 6?
That’s a gross old comment. They’ve kept it in good shape despite the age of the park.
@Jgwi2az
New generation has destroyed baseball. More concerned about checking your phone every 2-seconds. It’s called an addiction. Get help!
Great old stadium.
I assume with the settlement, Baltimore would be awarded the game immediately but I guess not.
Lockout coming after ‘26 season
Keep telling yourself that.
That would be exquisitely boring. Are you providing guidance based on your experiences with things you don’t like? Sounds stupid to me.
“I demand a salary cap because my team stinks! That will fix all of their issues. And then I will complain for another five years because they still stink.”
Stein,
Why wouldn’t the owners lock out the players? Manfred has indicated that’s business as usual these days.
The same places host it all the time. Everyone talks about how much they love Fenway but they never get an ASG. Last was 1999 and its nowhere in sight.
IMHO, it’s MLB incentivization for lesser-attended stadiums/teams (and smaller cities) to modernize and keep up with some of the best attended stadiums. Typically, if you build a new stadium, you’ll normally get it within a few years, but it would be nice to see them revisit historic fields (Fenway is the best experience I’ve had, so far).
Interestingly, OAK last hosted the ASG in 1987 and TB never hosted it.
If things were exactly equal, each team would host every 30 years. So it would be Fenway’s “turn” in 2029. You have a few years to go before your complaint about “never” getting a game would be reasonable.
There’s 30 teams, each team should get one every 30 years. Red Sox had one 26 years ago .. not egregious at all
So…big free agents are finally coming to the north side?
Push cubs, push
Baltimore hasn’t hosted an All Star Game since 1993. Why does that city keep being passed over by MLB? Camden Yards is a beautiful ballpark.
Camden is indeed a beautiful park. Most of the city is an armpit, unfortunately.
Because of the neighborhood, you can hear gunshots during almost every broadcast
That’s not true
Ever since I was a kid I never understood why they don’t just have a 30-year rotation for hosting the ASG, rotating through each team to host.
They basically do that already.
A list of hosts going back to 1990:
1990
Chicago Cubs
Toronto
San Diego
Baltimore
Pittsburgh
Texas
Philadelphia
Cleveland
Colorado
Boston
Atlanta
Seattle
Milwaukee
Chicago White Sox
Houston
Detroit
*Pittsburgh
San Francisco
NY Yankees
St. Louis
LA Angels
Arizona
Kansas City
New York Mets
Minnesota
Cincinnati
*San Diego
Miami
Washington
*Cleveland
*Colorado
LA Dodgers
*Seattle
*Texas
*Atlanta
*Philadelphia
(* hosted twice)
Only 2 teams haven’t hosted an All Star game since 1990:
Tampa Bay, Oakland (’87) – Two stadiums no one wants to go watch a game at anyway
There are a lot of teams. It takes time to rotate through them all. Teams like the Cubs, Jays and Orioles are some of the next most likely to get it as they’re some of the longest since the last hosting.
Also, MLB likes to host at new stadiums and several teams (Texas/Atlanta) have built several new stadiums in that time.
As you said: Only 2 teams haven’t hosted an All Star game since 1990:
Tampa Bay, Oakland (’87) – Two stadiums no one wants to go watch a game at anyway
Better late than never — fill up Sutter field in West Sacramento. That would be something to see 14k people pay at least 1k per ticket on every seat even the grass.area
Burn it all down, play the ASG at the fields of dreams. Or go international.
Boring game, especially when some guys get voted on the team but don’t play because they started 3 days ago in another meaningless game against the Black Sox or Marlins and can’t throw 1 inning in an exhibition game but are more than willing to throw 50 to 60 pitches in multiple bullpen sessions.
Might as well call it the third string All-Star game. Cubs would be better to invest in a long-term winning team.
Funny how cities like Chicago are simultaneously bankrupt and crime infested but there’s always interest in having major events there and the local taxpayers are expected to forget about all these problems and throw money at billionaires.
So which is it, Fox News crowd?
Widening the sidewalks and adding extra security is necessary because of the people that watch CNN.
Not because of an Exhibition baseball game.
Sweet home Chicago. Gotta love it. Let’s get it done. Cubs nation buckle up gonna be a fun summer and October.
The 1999 all-star game at Fenway was fantastic. The games great players surrounding Ted Williams. Pedro Martinez mowing down the best hitters in the game.
I always liked when the players wore there own teams uniforms. Bring it back to Fenway.
Henry Gardenhoser can throw out the first pitch to Chet Steadman or even better Billy Frick!
MASN is settled. Bring it back to Camden.